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[title]Warren and Kim are two "married" (or as married as two men can be in Australia) rich white men. One evening, in a small pub, the pair become deeply offended when they spot something unusual on the menu: "Faggots served with mashed potato and gravy".
Declan Greene (of subversive queer outfit Sisters Grimm) has written a comedy of errors that grapples with contemporary notions of political correctness and hypocrisy on both sides of the political spectrum. As the story progresses, Warren and Kim become embroiled in increasingly farcical situations; Warren attends a party with a 'politically incorrect' dress code and Kim interviews a highly offendable queer academic. Naturally, their paths intersect, with blisteringly funny results.
In his writer's note for The Homosexuals, Greene explains his decision to set his farce in contemporary Sydney: "Square in the cross-fire of a culture war where outrage is currency, feelings are facts, sensitivities are ignored, atonement is impossible, and simplistic buzzwords like 'Cultural Marxism', 'Social Engineering', and 'Snowflake' are used to stifle discourse in much the same manner as 'Bigotry', 'Privilege', and 'Nazi'. As the Left and Right slowly distil their values into pure black and white, I’ve tried to write a play of muddy grey in-betweens. It’s a comic play about comedy. An offensive play about offence."
The Homosexuals, or 'Faggots' runs from Feb 17-Mar 12 at Malthouse Theatre.