In June 2009, the IGNITE! Festival with Sage Theatre hosted its most successful play ever, Heterophobia, by Pam Rocker. Since then, Rocker has expanded the play by another 20 minutes to add more depth and detail to the already intriguing and multi-layered characters. This newest production of Heterophobia will be playing from September 1st to 11th at The Motel Theatre.
Heterophobia is described as a dark comedy, “a tall glass of gay with a twist of straight.” The play bill states, “In the world of heterophobia, social norms are flipped on their ears, and extreme role reversal ensues. Being gay is the norm, and being straight is the deviance.” It is essentially a story of relationships and our capacity for love.
Rocker describes the general plot. “Our leading lady, Grant, [comes] home for a visit after a tough break-up, with a secret that gets heavier by the second. As she struggles to hold on to her hidden cravings, her Moms try to woo her with waffles, clean underwear, and the prospect of settling down and being artificially inseminated. Meanwhile, her best friend Peter bursts onto the scene with erotic thoughts about Nathan Lane and a determination to cheer Grant up. But as Grant’s secret becomes too big to hold onto, she is forced to make a choice about revealing who she really is.”
The theatre company, Behind Closed Doors, is a perfect fit for this production. Amber Alexander, Producer and founder, created it on a vision “to bring the stories of the forgotten, stereotyped, and ignored individuals within our society to the stage.”
Rocker agrees with the fit. “The whole heart behind Behind Closed Doors is to produce unique entertainment that is infused with a spirit of play and social justice – which is what Heterophobia is all about. I am so proud to be a part of the courageous footprints they are making.”
GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine had the privilege of talking to Pam in greater depth about this season’s production.
“When I started to write Heterophobia, I was working for the largest evangelical church in Canada, married, and trying to figure out why I couldn’t get my feelings to align with my belief system. Being raised in a conservative, religious home meant that the word gay was synonymous with evil. I had been struggling for years with the terrifying idea that I may be gay, and had yet to utter those words aloud to anyone. I found myself in a Playwrighting course and our final assignment was to write a one-act play about anything that we wanted. My soul was searching for truth, acceptance, and answers, and I looked at that opportunity as a chance to explore the very ideas that I had been trained to fear. I was sitting at a Christian retreat centre, with all of these desires and ideas floating through my heart, and the word heterophobia came to me. I was angry at how hard I knew it would be if I ever came out, and I thought, I need to create a world where it’s absolutely normal to be gay – because I was honestly curious about what that would look like. Being political was never on my mind, and I never thought that this play would see the light of day.”
“Years later, while still navigating my sexuality and dipping my toe into the idea that someday I may be able to be myself, I entered Heterophobia into the IGNITE! Festival with Sage Theatre. It was accepted, and 4 months later, I saw Heterophobia come alive on the stage. I was ecstatic, even though my personal life was hell. I was making, what I call, impossible choices – where you know you will be rejected in some way by people you love and adore, but that you have to have the integrity to be honest about who you are. The success of the show at IGNITE! was a huge validation for me. I felt in a tangible way that so many other people got it – they saw the irony that I saw when I looked at this world where phobias were reversed. I was starting to experience what it felt like to be in a community where I didn’t need to explain or justify who I was, but that I was accepted outright, with no caveats required. It was extremely liberating and gave me the courage I needed to come out to my family.”
Director Ayla Stephen and the cast and crew compliment Heterophobia well. Stephen, a seasoned actor and Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Company, jumped at a chance to work with Rocker. “I find the subject matter very accessible. Pam has taken an issue play and made it very enjoyable to watch. Essentially it’s a play about relationships and expectations. She doesn’t push a political agenda, or place judgment or blame on anybody. She gives the audience a new perspective and really starts a dialogue. Not only is the subject matter important, but the show is fun!”
The rest of the cast are just as enthusiastic. Whitney Richter, in the role of the lead character Grant, senses the importance of this role. “I absolutely believe that this play presents important subject matter - it’s a representation of all different types of relationships and, as Pam puts it so eloquently, one very fundamental key to having a successful relationship in your life: grace. Having grace with each other; whether you agree with the decisions or choices, whether they be spiritual, sexual or otherwise, so that the love we have for one another is always at the forefront and is the most important thing. There is a lot to be learned from Pam and this wonderful play she has written. She has the ability to take a topic that can be so controversial and political and she boils it down to the core, strips away all pretenses and makes it about the people and relationships involved. “
When asked why the public, regardless of sexual orientation, should come to Heterophobia, Rocker answers with no hesitation. “Whatever your background, whatever your belief system, this show is a lot of fun and is really all about a family who is struggling to love and understand each other. As political as the title may sound, the play is anything but issue-based. It sprang from real questions that I, and millions of other people, have every day. Will I be loved? Will I be accepted? Will my parents be proud of me? It’s an interesting way to look at what we fear, what makes us hate, and why. I hope that it challenges all of us to see each other as human beings and not as labels or ideas.” ?