Body Politic

By Nick Green and Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

The point is that we started the conversation.

In 1971 Phillip was on the cusp of starting something big. Something that would make history. Now he’s an aging journalist trying to make sense of Grindr. Phillip was a founding member of The Body Politic, a gay-liberation newspaper based in Toronto. As he recounts memories of censorship battles, police raids, historic rallies, and the onset of HIV/AIDS during an intimate encounter with a younger man, their generational differences shine a light on the massive shifts in queer identity and politics over the last fifty years.

This historical drama reimagines the events surrounding the birth, life, and death of one of the most important journalistic forces in Canada, and the opportunities it created for the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Release date: May 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781770919761

Nick Green

Nick Green is a Dora and Sterling Award–winning playwright, and the creator of the Social Distancing Festival. Credits include Happy Birthday Baby J (Shadow Theatre); Every Day She Rose (Nightwood Theatre, co-written with Andrea Scott); Fangirl (book; Launch Pad at the Musical Stage Company); In Real Life (book; Canadian Music Theatre Projects); Dinner with the Duchess (Next Stage Festival, BroadwayWorld Toronto Award); Body Politic (Buddies in Bad Times/lemonTree Creations; Dora Award); Poof! The Musical (book and lyrics; Capitol Theatre, Sterling Award nomination); and The Fabulous Buddha Boi (Guys UnDisguised, Sterling Award). He lives in Toronto.

Book preview

9781770919747.jpg

Body Politic

Body Politic

By Nick Green

Playwrights Canada Press

Toronto

Body Politic © Copyright

2019

by Nick Green

First edition: May

2019

Jacket photo of Jonathan Seinen, Nick Green, and Indrit Kasapi © Tanja Tiziana

Author photo © Ryan Parker, Ryan Parker Photography

Playwrights Canada Press

202

-

269

Richmond St. W. Toronto, ON M

5

V

1

X

1

416.703.0013 ::

[e-mail] :: www.playwrightscanada.com :: @playcanpress

No part of this book may be reproduced, downloaded, or used in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except for excerpts in a review or by a licence from Access Copyright, www.accesscopyright.ca.

For professional or amateur production rights, please contact:

Colin Rivers, Marquis Entertainment

312

-

73

Richmond St. W., Toronto, ON M

5

H

4

E

8

416

.

960

.

9123

, [e-mail], www.marquisent.ca

Library

and

Archives

Canada

Cataloguing

in

Publication

Title: Body politic / by Nick Green.

Names: Green, Nick (Playwright), author.

Description: First edition. | A play.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print)

20190055952

| Canadiana (ebook)

20190055987

| ISBN

9781770919747

(softcover) | ISBN

9781770919754

(PDF) | ISBN

9781770919761

(EPUB) | ISBN

9781770919778

(Kindle)

Classification: LCC PS

8613

.R

42825

B

63

2019

| DDC C

812

/.

6

 — dc

23

Playwrights Canada Press acknowledges that we operate on land, which, for thousands of years, has been the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, Métis, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Today, this meeting place is home to many Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and play here.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts — which last year invested $

153

million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country — the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada for our publishing activities.

The Canada Council for the ArtsThe Government of CanadaOntario CreatesThe Ontario Arts Council

Contents

The Body is So Politic by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

Playwright’s Notes

Production History

Cast of Characters

Act One

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4A

Scene 4B

Scene 4C

Scene 4D

Scene 4E

Scene 4F

Scene 5

Scene 6

Scene 7A

Scene 7B

Scene 7C

Scene 8A

Scene 8B

Scene 8C

Scene 8D

Scene 8E

Scene 9

Scene 10

Scene 11

Act Two

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6

Scene 7

Scene 8

Scene 9

Scene 10

Scene 11

Scene 12

Scene 13

Scene 14

About the Author

Landmarks

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright Page

Dedication

Start of Text

Table of Contents

The Body is So Politic by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

Act One

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4A

Scene 4B

Scene 4C

Scene 4D

Scene 4E

Scene 4F

Scene 5

Scene 6

Scene 7A

Scene 7B

Scene 7C

Scene 8A

Scene 8B

Scene 8C

Scene 8D

Scene 8E

Scene 9

Scene 10

Scene 11

Act Two

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6

Scene 7

Scene 8

Scene 9

Scene 10

Scene 11

Scene 12

Scene 13

Scene 14

About the Author

Page List

iii

v

vi

vii

viii

ix

x

xi

xii

xiii

xiv

xv

xvi

1

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

The closing matinee performance of the first run of this play occurred on June

12

,

2016

, mere hours after the deadliest mass shooting in US history occurred at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Forty-nine people, primarily LGBTQ+ people of colour, were killed; fifty-three were injured; and many others emotionally or physically impacted in ways that will last their lifetimes.

Like the others in the cast and crew, this news filled me with so much pain, sorrow, and terror that I wasn’t sure how the show could go on. Instead of pacing my apartment, I headed to the theatre early: Buddies in Bad Times — a fortress of queer. When I arrived, I found that most of the cast and crew had done the same. We sat on the stage together, talking and crying. We prepared ourselves for a tough show, wondering if anyone would show up.

They came. The house filled. I sat at the back in my usual hidey-hole, my heart beating as the lights faded out. I thought to myself, What are we even doing here?

And then something happened.

I had watched this show over and over throughout the run, but suddenly it was all new. The lines ignited with the context of the day. The pain of the characters deepened through a fresh level of understanding. And when the brilliant Diane Flacks, as Deb, stood up on that bed and yelled, "

no

more

shit

!" an electrical current shot out into the air and mixed with the pain and fear and anger felt by everyone in that crowd. This electrical cloud engulfed us, filled our bodies, charged our minds, froze time. It pulled us all together into a singular moment of collective grief that was so urgently needed on that day. The past, present, and future were indistinguishable