Quince Productions brings the fourth annual GayFest! to Philly

As minorities have become more assimilated into mainstream American culture, has the need for “niche” theater diminished? For example, gays and lesbians are much more visible in the media and have also made great strides towards equality in recent years. Work by notable gay playwrights like Tony Kushner, Jon Robin Baitz, and Christopher Durang is routinely seen on mainstream stages. The notion, then, some say, is that there is no longer a need for “ghettoized” gay-specific theater.

Rich Rubin enthusiastically disagrees with this perspective. As the founder and primary director of Quince Productions, whose GayFest! theater festival runs August 5 – 21, Rubin is one of the few producers in Philadelphia with a mission to focus on material that deals in some way with LGBT issues. And since there was so much material that wasn’t getting the exposure Rubin felt it deserved, four years ago, he initiated GayFest!, Philadelphia’s only annual LGBT theater festival. Quince Productions was uniquely positioned to pull it off: Being a small producing organization allows for a certain amount of administrative agility.

“Small companies like us don’t have to navigate 97 levels of bureaucracy in order to start a new program, or decide what to present, or how to present it,” Rubin says.

He proved right about the need for a gay theater festival, because each year GayFest! has grown and expanded its offerings, as well as increasing the number of venues required to house all the shows. There is also the best indicator of success of them all — increased single ticket sales each year. This year the festival’s multiple events will be squeezed into three different performance spaces: the Skinner Studio at Plays & Players, and the Adrienne Theater’s Skybox and Playground stages. These events will include four mainstage plays, a “special event” each week of the festival, plus a series of “one night stands” — sort of like GayFest!’s version of the Fringe, a festival within the festival.

Rubin says something akin to a theatrical domino effect is responsible for this wealth of material and artists. “Every year’s festival, from the beginning, has connected me with people or referrals for the next year’s project. Every year we’ve gotten more diverse."

Rubin’s definition of “diversity” includes people from differing backgrounds, and materials touching on differing cultural experience; the only common aspect of everything is that it addresses in some fashion the LGBT experience. Rubin has also diversified the types of material that comprise this year’s festival. For example, this year’s Gala Festival Opening will present two nights of performance by the New York-based dance company The Bang Group, on August 5 and 7.

Overall, the festival’s programming is a virtual who’s who in gay theatrical history, including works by Paul Rudnick, Neil LaBute, and Mo Gaffney, plus a 50th anniversary production of Robert Patrick’s classic comedy The Haunted Host. (Some years ago, I saw The Haunted Host off-Broadway with Harvey Fierstein — it is, indeed, a very funny play. I plan to check out this new version.) Rounding things out will be works by a horde of up-and-coming voices, some of whom are making their debut with GayFest!.

Quince Productions’ GayFest! is happening August 5 – 23 at the Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom Street, and the Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Place, in Philadelphia. If past years are any indication, tickets for GayFest! events will go quickly. For a complete calendar with venue locations, plus ticket information, visit the festival website or call 215-627-1088.