In his upper eastside Manhattan apartment, Michael is throwing a birthday party for Harold, a self-awoved "32 year-old, pock-marked, Jew fairy", complete with surprise gift: "Cowboy" a street hustler. As the evening wears on, fueled by drugs and alcohol, bitter, unresolved resentments among the guests come to light when a game of "Truth" goes terribly wrong.
From the beginning, Boys has been criticized for catering to some of the deepest and most damaging stereotypes of gay life: the nelly, the show queen, the self-loathing closet case. Certain facets do feel dated, but to scrub them entirely would also feel like a denial of the truths and the time the play is rooted in. And for all the pop-culture asides and pointed wit, it's hardly a hollow platform for banter and bitcheries; director Joe Mantello (Wicked, the original production of Angels in America) takes care to let his characters' messier humanity come through.
Newspaper ads during the play's original run boasted quotes like 'Screamingly Funny,' and 'Lancing Wit,' perhaps luring in hesitant straight ticket-buyers with the promise of a jolly comedy rather than witnessing the self-reflections of members of a group their society has marginalized. While Mantello's immensely engaging production certainly isn't stingy with the laughs, the director also has the liberty to play to a more sympathetic public, allowing the sharp edges to occasionally soften, giving clearer views of what all that laughter was hiding.
| 1968 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1996 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2010 | Off-Broadway |
Transport Group Revival Off-Broadway |
| 2017 | West End |
West End Transfer Production West End |
| 2018 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Robin De Jesus |
| 2019 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Mart Crowley |
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