Bent is a heart-breaking play about the trials and tribulations faced by homosexuals in Nazi Germany.
The play is being performed at the BUA (Buffalo United Artists), a theater tucked away amongst the bars and restaurants of Chippewa St. in downtown Buffalo.
Directed by Drew McGabe, Bent tells the powerful story of Max (Marc Sacco), a gay man who, along with his lover Rudy (Jonathan Sheuy), is captured by Nazis in Berlin.
After a guard forces him to beat Rudy to death, Max is imprisoned in a concentration camp. While imprisoned, Max pretends to be Jewish rather than gay because, as he discovers, homosexuals were the lowest of the inmates and were treated the worst.
Max meets and falls in love with Horst (Chris LaBanca), a gay man who also develops feelings for Max as they work together in the camp, resulting in a relationship that ends tragically.
One of the most interesting and effective aspects of the production was the scarce amount of props on stage. In most scenes, the only props were wooden benches – some scenes had no props at all, which allowed the audience to completely focus on the characters.
The cast delivered fantastic performances all around, especially Sacco and LaBanca: their depiction of two men who could never realize their relationship was gut-wrenching, and it brought the audience to tears at the play's end.
Another noteworthy actor was James Wild – an alumnus of UB – who portrayed the Nazi guard who made the lives of Max and Horst a living hell. Often entering the stage from the back of the theater, he had the ability to make the entire audience uncomfortable, and his entrances were often signaled by the sinister squeak of his leather boots.
Right from the beginning, the audience knew Bent would cross any line it could. Within the first 10 minutes, viewers were greeted with Wolf (Michael Seitz), Max's one night stand from the previous evening, who enters the stage completely nude. He is then shot to death by the Nazi guard before he can escape Berlin with Max and Rudy.
A particularly explicit scene involved Max and Horst standing at attention during one of their breaks from labor at the concentration camp. After discussing their inability to make love, the two men engage in a very descriptive conversation of erotic details that results in their much-needed sexual release.
The audience was also presented with the gruesome and disturbing aspects of the Holocaust, including stories of senseless murder and the Nazis' depraved games. During intermission, several people opted not to return for the second half, most likely because of the mature subject matter.
Due to the recent focus on bullying in the media, viewers of Bent cannot help but compare the situation of the play's characters to the plight of young homosexuals today.
An older male audience member said the message of this play is, "Beware of the past, beware of the future – you never know what's going to happen in this country…there's a lot of hatred out there."
The BUA (119 Chippewa St.) will present two more performances of Bent this coming Friday and Saturday (Oct. 14 and 15) at 8 p.m. The price of student admission is $15 with proper ID.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
