Accidentally, Like a Martyr, a Look at the Many Ages of Gay Men, to Get NYC Reading

By Kenneth Jones
13 Aug 2009

Six generations of gay men gather at a Manhattan watering hole in Grant James Varjas' new play, Accidentally, Like a Martyr, getting a free public reading Aug. 17 in New York City.

The title is borrowed from an old Warren Zevon song, and the play takes place in real time, set in a small gay bar on Manhattan's Lower East Side, "where six characters of different backgrounds and generations drink and banter their way though what starts out as just another slow night," according to production notes.

The reading is at 7:30 PM at The Wild Project, 195 East 3rd Street, between Avenues A and B.

The cast includes Chuck Blasius, Brett Douglas, Desmond Dutcher, Brian Tom O'Connor and Cameron Pow.

Inspired and influenced by works like Mart Crowley's Boys in the Band and Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings, the work is billed as a humorous and dramatic look at what it's like to grow older as a gay man in the new century.

Varjas is the writer and composer of the GLAAD-nominated 33 to Nothing. He is a member of the Tectonic Theatre Company, where he has collaborated on various projects, ranging from the film version of The Laramie Project to the recent 33 Variations. He has acted in numerous Off and Off-Off-Broadway productions, television shows and the upcoming film "Peter and Vandy." He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has studied with Tom Noonan.

Steven McElroy, the former artistic director of the New Ensemble Theater Company, directs.