Playwright James Corley’s “What It Means” pits the personal against the political Wiltons Music Hall, in a historical docudrama set in NYC’s tumultuous 1970s…

The play is based on the NY Times article, “What It Means to be a Homosexual” written by acclaimed Harpers Magazine journalist #MerleMiller. Corley’s insightful script follows Miller (played with dry humour by Richard Cant) as he courageously decides to come out of the closet✍️…

His motivation? A controversial article by American writer #JosephEpstein, which muses on erasing homosexuality “off the face of the earth”…

With #LGBTQ activism as a backdrop, the linear script is sprinkled with flashbacks that expose Miller’s problematic upbringing, internalised homophobia & the social pressures to conform🏋️‍♂️

Miller addresses the audience intimately, as if rehearsing his thoughts aloud. Reminiscent of #Heminway’s “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”, director Harry Mackrill traces the vulnerability & self-doubt that comes with publicly baring one’s soul…

Cant’s performance is deliciously imbued with a sarcasm that reveals Miller’s bitterness in the face of a heteronormative society filled with prejudice. And he’s supported by spot-on stagecraft: Justin Arienti’s set & costume design takes us back half a century to a modest NYC house. Beth Duke’s sound design smartly uses a vintage phone to curtail monologues, while Martha Godrey’s lighting design eloquently navigates jumps in time & tone…

Despite the turmoil that Miller traverses, this narration-driven play begs for greater shifts in energy. The saving grace comes late in the script, when a troubled young man (Cayvan Coates) emerges from the audience, seemingly from the future, to challenge Miller’s literary legacy. This interjection provides a much-needed change of pace & reflects how differently each generation approaches ongoing social issues…

Ultimately, The Lot Productions' “What It Means” paints a raw, authentic portrait of a man, a moment in time & a universal struggle for human rights. Add a dash more dramatisation & we're good to go. 3/5⭐