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<\/p>\nHow a Masked Man Ignited the Revolution for Gay Rights in \u2018217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous\u2019: REVIEW<\/b>
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How do you start a civil rights movement when the rest of society thinks you\u2019re mentally ill?<\/span><\/p>\n It was a question facing queer people before we were even considered a community, much less one that could agitate for equal treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n The man<\/a> responsible for the removal of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association\u2019s diagnostic manual of mental illness is the subject of a intimate and fascinating play by Ain Gordon, <\/span>217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous<\/span><\/i>, currently running at the Baryshnikov Arts Center through May 11. <\/span><\/p>\n In 1972, Dr. John Fryer addressed the APA\u2019s annual conference with a daring personal speech that began, \u201cI am a homosexual, I am a psychiatrist\u201d \u2014 at a time when admitting as much likely meant sacrificing your livelihood. For the occasion, Dr. Fryer donned an oversized tuxedo and a rubber mask that obscured his entire face. He spoke through a voice-distorting microphone, all to hide his identity in service of what became a groundbreaking victory for gay<\/a> rights. <\/span><\/p>\n Homosexuality was declassified as a mental illness the following year; it was 10 more years before Fryer revealed he was the man<\/a> behind the mask. This year\u2019s APA conference, which coincides with the play\u2019s run produced by Equality Forum, marks the 45th anniversary of the landmark removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A commission by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Gordon\u2019s play is the result of his deep dive into the society\u2019s holdings of Fryer\u2019s personal papers \u2014 217 boxes of everything from utility bills and patient records to letters from his parents and companions. Of the three characters who assemble a portrait of the man<\/a>, none of them are Fryer himself.<\/span><\/p>\n Gordon\u2019s treatment of this extraordinary history pays some tribute to its subject\u2019s lore of anonymity, while shining new light on a pivotal figure often overlooked. An Obie-winning monologist, Gordon presents three characters who share their own personal stories while revealing the outlines of Fryer, including his impact on them and the broader currents of history. <\/span><\/p>\n We hear first from a fellow gay<\/a> psychiatrist and confidant, the \u201chigh swish\u201d Alfred A. Gross (Derek Lucci), who speaks in a kind of Wildean lyrical prose, waxing over how the movement\u2019s \u00a0origins have colored everything that\u2019s followed, \u201cOur vision is what<\/span> enables you to now see<\/span> where we were shortsighted,\u201d he says of a new generation\u2019s calls<\/a> for greater inclusivity than is \u00a0encompassed in the term \u201cgay<\/a> rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Gross is followed by Fryer\u2019s secretary for the last 24 years of his life (delightfully embodied by Laura Esterman), who recalls the scores patients whose files she moved into storage as they succumbed to AIDS. Due to doctor-patient confidentiality, she can\u2019t tell us their names. But she can read us the 17 box numbers they represent among surviving papers of Dr. Fryer, who was a rare psychiatrist willing to treat ailing gay<\/a> men<\/a> before anyone knew why they were dying. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s Fryer\u2019s father (Ken Marks), the final character, who reads to us his son\u2019s speech in front of legions of peers in the AP. \u201cRubber casing like a tunnel,\u201d his father imagines Fryer beneath the mask. \u201cAll sound, gulps, breath, your own words back to your ears like an echo \u2014 of<\/span> judgment.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMay I be a little understood,\u201d an arch Gross asks us earlier, \u201cfor reveling in how that oppression did also make me spectacular?\u201d It\u2019s a striking reminder that remarkable feats \u2014 from Dr. Fryer\u2019s igniting of a revolution, to the everyday triumph of simply being yourself \u2014 thrive most in times of great resistance.<\/span><\/p>\n Recent theatre features\u2026 Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar The post How a Masked Man Ignited the Revolution for Gay Rights in \u2018217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous\u2019: REVIEW<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"dr](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/217-boxes.jpg?resize=480%2C320\")
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<\/a><\/em>(photos: paula court)<\/p>\n