Aside from one woman, his characters are all gay men, but any stereotypes drop away quickly as his hour and twenty minute gallery presents more and more compelling portraits of unique individuals.
Tears replace laughter as the evening progresses.
Houk's first two monologues dispense with the surface clich s of gay life. Over seventy and sharing a dressing-room mirror with an ingenue, Eileen is grudgingly admiring of the girl's choices, jealous of her future, but secure in her own past. What follows is descent into nightmare. The set ends with J.D., an ageing author dictating memoirs to an occasionally sleeping secretary. What a fascinating coda to this excellent gallery of engrossingly interesting portraits.