Doric Wilson's Play - A Perfect Relationship

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Ray T. Schultz, Sterling Harper, Raymond Sammak, Teri Sheridan, Richard Burnsed, Adam Caparell, and Charles Stramiello in "A Perfect Relationship", New York City 1980

L to R, Back row: Hank (Ray T. Schultz), Ward (Sterling Harper), Greg (Raymond Sammak)
Center: Muriel (Teri Sheridan), Richard (Richard Burnsed), Barry (Adam Caparell)
Front on floor: Tom (Charles Stramiello) - New York City, 1980
photo: Roy Blakey

"has a tight-in-the crotch, beer-slugging vitality that makes us laugh at the often grimly serious enterprise of gaymale sexual conquest" - Gaysweek (NYC)

Doric Wilson on A Perfect Relationship

The only relationship I ever had left me stumbling through the slush of Forty-Second Street on Christmas Eve of 1961, clutching Macy shopping bags crammed with his and my presents. Seems his lover (an entity previously unknown to me) had flown in from London as a holiday surprise. Never tried relationships again as I am susceptible to colds which makes stumbling through slush a bad idea. For me a one night stand is a long time commitment. Which in no way deterred me from writing about A Perfect Relationship.

People are forever offering writers their great idea for a play (which inevitably prove useless). Waiters have withheld my dinner, a doctor interrupted a medical procedure, strangers have crawled out from under my bed, all insisting I listen. This is not how plays are written. Or it wasn’t until an afternoon in the late 1970s. I had started working on the play, had created Ward and Greg (named after my upstairs neighbors) but now was blocked. The plot was stalled in a snow storm (notice the symbolism). I was interviewing a potential roommate to share my Bedford Street apartment. When I asked him why he wanted to move, he answered, "You could write a play about what happened to me." It seems his lover brought home a trick and they decided to live together so they kicked him out but the trick only wants the apartment so its only a matter of time until the trick also evicts the lover. Three weeks later the first draft of A Perfect Relationship was finished (the interviewee didn’t move in).

Ward and Greg were patterned on the hearty sportsmen seen in print ads for menthol cigarettes. That they were also gay was meant to catch a late 1970's audience off-guard. They were diametrically opposite to the prevalent stereotype. How was I to know they were about to become the stereotype. As Ward shares most of my worst traits, I tend to sympathize with Greg. Imagine my surprise when audiences generally side with Ward. I certainly wouldn’t want to live with me.

The character Muriel (written for Jane Lowry) proved a major problem. I had established that she could and would enter the play at will and at anytime, and as Muriel was convinced the play was about her, she (the character) kept barging in and taking over. I couldn’t keep her off the stage. One set of producers optioned the play only so they could tie up the character of Muriel for a possible televison spinoff.

Barry was based on an actual "interior architect" who specialized in "grey-beige" named Barry. After hearing a reading of A Perfect Relationship, and with a clear view of his own self-interest, he asked that he be allowed to design the sets. I reminded the director that my depiction of Barry was fairly astute. I was ignored, the week of dress rehearsal, Barry got an invitation to Mardi Gras and the play opened set less. I was lucky to see the late Adam Caparell (the best male identified actor to work in gay theater) play the definitive Barry.

After the Glines showcase, there was much talk that A Perfect Relationship would cross over to the professional mainstream. It was the first workshop of a play with a gay theme that had agents submitting their male client list for consideration. The producers were interested in the Lucille Lortel Theater on Christopher Street until the self-hating gay manager refused to even read the script, insisting there was no audience for "gay entertainments" in Greenwich Village. Seems a little pointless protesting Dr. Laura when our worst adversaries most often are us. Guess I’ll never see my name on a bronze plaque under the Lortel marquee.

New York City, June 18, 2000

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Doric Wilson's A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP Copyright Notice CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that *Doric Wilson’s A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP* is subject to a royalty. The play is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America, and of all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), and of all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, and of all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, classroom or workshop performance, radio broadcasting, television, and the rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved by the author. Particular emphasis is laid upon the question of readings and the use of this play for classroom, workshop or audition purposes, permission for which must be secured from the author and/or his agent in writing. No portion of the play may be published, reprinted in any publication, or copied for any commercial reason, excepting copies necessary for personal use or to assist in a production of the play, without permission of the author and or his agent. To acquire performance rights contact Doric Wilson, c/o TOSOS Too, 506 Ninth Avenue, Apt 3FN, New York, N.Y. 10018. Telephone: (212) 563-2218; Email: doricw@nyc.rr.com By submitting this form, you indicate you agree with the above stated Copyright Notice.