WHAT's 'Straight White Men' not about what you think it is + 3 other theater shows worth seeing

You probably think you know what politics you're going to see at a play called "Straight White Men," but the folks at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater plan to surprise you with their season opener. See just how in the story below, and here are more plays to consider for entertainment this week (and to see critic Sue Mellen's reviews of the latest shows, check out www.capecodtimes.com/entertainment):

► If you missed "Silver Threads, A Musical Tribute to Linda Ronstadt" when it first played in West Harwich last summer, or just want to see it again, Cotuit Center for the Arts (4404 Falmouth Road) is producing the three-woman musical June 1-19; https://artsonthecape.org/explore/silver-threads-2022.

► Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster is continuing its regional premiere of Ethan Lipton's cowboy musical comedy “Tumacho,” about citizens of a forsaken frontier town looking for someone to stand up for them. The show runs through June 12: https://caperep.org/show/tumacho/.

► Chatham Drama Guild brings back a classic with "Steel Magnolias," about women supporting each other at a beauty shop, running June 3-25; 508-945-0510, http://www.chatdramaguild.org/

Reviews of new shows: A cowboy comedy, a banned melodrama & Linda Ronstadt: 3 must-see shows on Cape Cod stages

► This is the final weekend for Provincetown Theater's re-premiere of Mae West's "The Drag," about a love triangle between a man, his wife and his male lover that reviewer Sue Mellen says is worth seeing for "the fun of the costumes, humor and — just for good measure — a dramatic history lesson," with the cross-dressing bits and musical numbers "just sheer delights"; https://provincetowntheater.org/

WHAT's 'Straight White Men' upends expectations

“Straight White Men” is the title of the opening play for Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater’s return to its indoor stage, and the writer is Young Jean Lee, an Asian-American woman.

That simple dynamic sets up certain expectations for audiences, says producing artistic director Christopher Ostrom, and a main reason he chose this play was because what they’ll think the play is going to say isn’t how it turns out at all.

“It appears to be one thing on the surface, and I love the fact that it upends the audience’s expectations and reveals itself to actually be a very tender, intimate portrait of a family in crisis,” he says. “It's wickedly funny, but it also has this very soft side to it. I think the expectation is ‘OK, here's this downtown Asian-American woman and she's going to rip straight white men apart!’ That’s so not this play.”

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The production, which runs June 3-24 (with June 1-2 previews), is the first of five shows running into the fall, all on the indoor Julie Harris stage for the first time in three years (with proof of vaccination and masks required). While Ostrom says he never set out to have a particular theme for the 2022 season, some connecting tissue is clear.

Coming up will be “Marry Me a Little” (June 29-July 22), which uses songs cut from early Stephen Sondheim shows to loosely tell the story of two New Yorkers isolated in their apartments; Taylor Mac’s “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus” (July 27-Aug. 19), a “profane” and “bloody” play based on Shakespeare about, Ostrom says, how “those who have power and those who have money destroy things (and) it’s those who don't have power who are left to clean up the mess”; Lauren Gunderson’s “The Revolutionists” (Aug. 25-Sept. 17) about women during the French Revolution; and Harold Pinter’s classic “Betrayal” (Sept. 27-Oct. 17), about the aftermath of a marital affair.

In very different ways, Ostrom says, all the plays defy expectations and share some discussion about loneliness, connection, humor and a reflection of recent times.

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“There is a strong sense that we can’t ignore what’s happened in the past year. We have to address it, we have to talk about it,” he says. “I think each of these plays captures a little bit of what we’ve been missing: togetherness, understanding everybody, loneliness and longing, knowing that when things are destroyed, people have to put it back together. I think they're very timely in that way.”

Humor in tough times

“The Revolutionists” has proven to be even more timely than when chosen, considering the U.S. Supreme Court’s potential action against the Roe v. Wade abortion decision. The play is “the story of four women who band together to form a revolution as they see that the rights of women have been left out of the declaration of rights in France,” Ostrom explains. “It’s about the necessity of women to band together to advocate for their rights.”

And while that’s a timely and serious message, “The Revolutionists” is hilarious, he says, tackling the tough topics with humor at the same time. Offering that and other plays that are comedic with underlying truths is an important part of the season, he says.

“It's wonderful that we can sit back and laugh and have that moment of just pure entertainment, but in the background, there’s something very important, very timely happening,” he says. “I think it's wonderful that theater gives us the opportunity to juxtapose those multiple emotions in the same experience. I think it's the ultimate kind of catharsis when you can laugh in the face of absolute terror.”

Empathy and privilege

For the first show, the plot of “Straight White Men” is described this way: “Ed and his sons are celebrating the (Christmas) holidays in their traditional style. As Jake and Drew sit around eating Chinese takeout, playing games, and pranking each other, it quickly becomes apparent that something is wrong with their brother Matt. One brother’s existential crisis prompts a spirited and comedic dialogue on the value of privilege in an evolving society and the tragedy of failing to live up to one’s potential.”

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Ostrom says he was drawn to the script because “it sets it up to be something, and then it becomes something so much more humane. And there's a wonderful line in the play that says, basically, we want the world to give us the same consideration that we give to straight white men. I thought it was a beautiful moment of humanity to say, ‘Wait just a minute, we have to understand what privilege is in order to be able to empathize with people and give them the empathy that they deserve.’”

Lee debuted “Straight White Men” off-Broadway in 2014, and it was also produced in 2018 on Broadway. Ostrom believes the play was ahead of its time with some of its messages that he says resonate differently now after our experiences with the pandemic and race relations.

“The ability to share with your family and take comfort and solace within your family has been a rare thing for two years, and it’s nice to see a play that celebrates that,” he says. In connection to “the greater conversation around race in this country,” he says “there are moments in the play that are very revealing about privilege and in discussing that it’s almost shameful to not take advantage of that privilege. What's the value of having privilege if you're not using it? There’s interesting and slightly combative dialogue around that.”

The play focuses on the one family, and Ostrom says that while using Zoom auditions because of COVID-19 concerns was tedious, the process did result in finding a clear chemistry between the father and son characters – as well as a strong physical resemblance.

“And it was amazing, the first time we all got together in a room, everybody fit immediately into their role in the family. The gentleman playing the youngest son was trying to be overwhelmingly cheerful all the time, the middle son was trying to keep everybody together. Dad definitely became the dad in the room. It was really interesting how seamlessly they fell into those roles.”

Tickets and information for all WHAT shows: http://www.what.org/

Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod theater: Wellfleet's 'Straight White Men,' more shows