Giovanni's Room

As a queer person, I’ve really tried to educate myself on queer history, literature, and what it took to get me here in general.  One of the most iconic pieces of queer literature is Giovanni’s Room, written by the infamous James Baldwin and published in 1956.  I read the book in college, and it was extremely hard hitting, as I think it is for most queer people…and probably for allies as well.  But queer people have to remember that this is our history.  We can’t let these things go, because then we lose a piece of ourselves.  So when I saw Quintessence Theatre was doing an adaptation of the book, I was extremely excited.

I’m learning that Quintessence does some really cool stuff.  And Giovanni’s Room just continued in that vein.  I think having some knowledge of the book (I have to admit, I don’t remember every last bit of it, as that was probably close to 20 years ago) really helped me out in this show, but it also didn’t take away from the emotions the play brought up in me.  It’s not easy being a queer person in the modern world, and it was much harder in 1956.  At that point, homosexuality was illegal in America.  It’s sort of hard to believe that wasn’t even that long ago.

The first thing I quickly picked up on was how well the cast worked together.  I felt everything with every interaction we saw, from the very start.  Obviously this is the groundwork of a show, and the cast of Giovanni’s Room nailed it.  They all worked well as an ensemble, and all the actors had insane chemistry with each other.  It makes a show like this even more hard hitting…truly believing what you’re watching is a big part for theatre, of course.  Watching the cast, especially the leads, made this show beautiful and touching.  It brought up so much in me.

There’s so much to say about all aspects of Giovanni’s Room.  The acting was phenomenal.  The sets were well done- mostly projections onto cloth.  There were tiny details that I absolutely loved…like David’s costumes.  I was absolutely raving about this detail…when David isn’t with Hella, he’s wearing more rebellious, bad boy shirts.  With Hella, he was wearing a very stereotypical 50s husband shirt.  The show was filled with beautiful things like this, that really made it above and beyond.

Giovanni’s Room is so much about coming to terms with who you are.  David wanted to be a stereotypical man, but he just wasn’t.  Hella wanted to be an independent woman, but what she truly wanted was to be a housewife.  Watching all of the characters’ journeys was really intense.  It wasn’t just their personal wants, but the people around them as well.  Giovanni calls David out for his words and actions, but I don’t think even Giovanni knew who he was.

It’s very interesting seeing a queer story from the past compared to modern queer stories.  There are things in Giovanni’s Room that were very ahead of their time, like sexual fluidity.  It’s interesting to watch what David goes through, both wanting to be a part of the queer world and being absolutely terrified to be a part of the queer world.  He’s had sex with men and women.  The book brought up a lot about the idea of bisexuality, and it was interesting to see that on stage…Ethan Check’s (David) acting with both Michael Aurelio (Giovanni) and Shelby Alayne Antel (Hella) really brought that home.

David’s emotions and journey are mind blowing to see onstage.  Check really got that, and there were so many punch in the gut moments.  From David’s own up and down journey to his emotions as he struggles through life, there were definitely moments that were hard to watch.  Watching him struggle with his sexuality was so intense.  Watching Giovanni call him out brought tears to my eyes.  In my opinion, David is a character you can both love and hate.  But you can also feel sorry for him.  He’s stuck between worlds, and in the time period, there’s really only one safe option…the option David clearly doesn’t want.

Every single one of these actors truly embodied their character.  It was truly stunning to see…we don’t know how these actors lead their lives or how they identify, but they were able to portray these characters with depth and soul.  They brought up so much in my chest, even though I know this story.  Seeing it onstage, though different from the book, really made it real for me.  And that was in the actors’ hands.  What they did was truly a testament to their abilities.  I believed that every second of Giovanni’s Room was actually unfolding for the first time in front of my eyes, just as a play should be.

This show haunted me for days after I saw it.  It was a truly beautiful adaptation of a piece of queer literature and history.  I really couldn’t get it out of my head.  I honestly think this was one of the most beautiful and stunning plays I’ve ever seen, and I say that as a theatre person and a queer person.  This adaptation really struck me hard, and I really hope this play goes further, because it deserves so much.  Giovanni’s Room was truly a treat, and I would recommend it to absolutely everyone.  It doesn’t matter who you are or how you identify, this show is going to hit you and you’re going to love it.