The Boys in the Band

[Editor’s note: this play contains dialogue that is potentially offensive or triggering.]

ACT ONE

Michael is finishing final preparations for the birthday party he’ll be hosting later in the evening for his friend, Harold. He lives in a trendy two-floor apartment in the East 50s of Manhattan, though he cannot afford it and is living in debt. He is joined by Donald, an old friend and long-term lover, who has recently moved to Long Island. Donald, who struggles with depression, has thrown himself wholeheartedly into therapy, but Michael, sardonic by nature, is skeptical of his psychiatrist. They compare notes on their dysfunctional childhoods, blaming their problems on their parents. Michael mixes drinks for the party, but none for himself; he has recently quit drinking, resolved to never again experience the guilt and anxiety that torture him when he sobers up.

Michael receives an unexpected phone call from Alan McCarthy, his roommate from college, visiting from Washington, D.C. Alan