Reviewed by Socks Whitmore
IAMA Theatre Company
Through Mar 4, 2024
RECOMMENDED
Since 2007, IAMA Theatre Company has supported a variety of development opportunities for new plays and musicals. This February, the company premieres the second commission of their “Sweet 16” season: Arrowhead by Catya McMullen, a queer comedy about chosen family, identity, and the existential crisis that comes from being a lesbian who might enjoy sex with men.
When Gen needs a way to disappear her unexpected pregnancy (without her zany cat-loving girlfriend Lily finding out), she gathers her friends Maggie, Stacy, and Cam at Stacy’s family cabin to help her have a home abortion in secret. The weekend takes a turn after Stacy’s brother Levi and pal Brody stumble into the cabin, adding hypersexual bro energy and a whole new set of relationship woes to the mix. Before the trip is over, each of the six will have a vulnerable truth to share — some secrets more messy than others. Buckle up for an R-rated evening of sexually fluid girl talk and other charged conversations around relationship culture, toxic masculinity, and the sometimes undefinable nature of human attraction.
In her playwright’s note, McMullen calls Arrowhead “a love letter to queerness . . . This is not a play of answers, but rather an experience of the impossible questions it asks. If there’s a point, it’s that it’s all fucking complicated.” Her humorous approach to exploring sexual identity effectively balances absurdity with sincerity, painting the cast of characters as flawed, vulnerable humans who just want to love and be loved. The show is particularly interesting for bringing the controversial subject of “gold star lesbians” into focus, making a bold attempt to dissect the sapphic community’s aversion to those with any heterosexual notches on their bedpost. (Gold star lesbians are a women-loving women who have only had sexual relationships with other femmes, and has never had heterosexual intercourse with a man.) As a self-described “top,” Gen’s yearning for the opportunity to experience kinky submission leads her to struggle with internalized shame and self-hatred, while Maggie’s label-less experience as a Black woman proves difficult for hyper-butch Cam to understand. It’s enjoyable to see frazzled mom Stacy achieve real character growth over the course of the play (albeit partially through googling “how to communicate”), and to have the action periodically interrupted by the chaotically naïve Lily with comical cat tree developments. The pure-hearted Brody (as played by Adrián González) is especially endearing.
Arrowhead is a funny, honest, and thoroughly queer production that reflects on learning about oneself through making mistakes. Audiences at this world premiere run can expect to laugh, to gasp, and to hear some good, gay music.
IAMA Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater. Fri.-Mon., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru March 4. iamatheatre.com Running time: one hour and 40 minutes.
