Re: "Winners and Losers," a play written and performed by Marcus Youssef and James Long, both Canadians, reviewed engagingly by Charles Isherwood, Jan. 6, 2015. I will address a point Isherwood leaves out, but not confidently, since I haven't seen the play. I believe that, as it ends, the play makes us think about how the friendship between Marcus and James transcends the suggestion that it has a competitive edge to it. It is entirely possible that no matter who wins at ping pong or loses a spiritedly exchanged argument. or who is better educated or endowed, the bond between them will remain unbreakable. The audience, I surmise, would leave the auditorium pretty much like the same way it would a performance of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot;" that is, assuming the two tramps will be together, for ever, whether Godot comes the following day or never at all. James and Marcus aren't gay, nor are Vladimir and Estragon in the Beckett play; but both "pseudo couples" want their friendship to survive for no easily identifiable reason. That's something to chew on. However we label it, male-bonding or friendship, it has its own ethos, and is surely not based on mutual dependence. I'd like to see a play about another pair of men, one black and one white, and both talking about everything under the sun, except race, color, and how well-endowed or not they are. I will breathe better then and say, loudly and happily, black and white lives, in fact, all lives, matter.
Youssef and James Long, both Canadians, reviewed engagingly by
Charles Isherwood, Jan. 6, 2015.
I will address a point Isherwood leaves out, but not confidently, since I haven't seen the play. I believe that, as it ends, the play makes us think about how the friendship between Marcus and James transcends the suggestion that it has a competitive edge to it. It is entirely possible that no matter who wins at ping pong or loses a spiritedly exchanged argument. or
who is better educated or endowed, the bond between them will remain unbreakable. The audience, I surmise, would leave the auditorium pretty much like the same way it would a performance of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot;" that is, assuming the two tramps will be together, for ever, whether Godot comes the following day or never at all. James and Marcus aren't gay, nor are Vladimir and Estragon in the Beckett play; but both "pseudo couples" want their friendship to survive for no easily identifiable reason. That's something to chew on.
However we label it, male-bonding or friendship, it has its own ethos, and is
surely not based on mutual dependence.
I'd like to see a play about another pair of men, one black and one white, and both talking about everything under the sun, except race, color, and how well-endowed or not they are. I will breathe better then and say, loudly and happily, black and white lives, in fact, all lives, matter.