Plays take sexual theme on the road

Writer Lou Clark wants to enlighten audiences and give back to the community with the premiere of "The Road Trip Plays, Out/In America."

"The Road Trip Play, Out/In America," is a collection of six shorter plays. The first three of these plays, including, "Road Trip'in," "2 Characters in Search of an On-Ramp" and "16 Hours in Steeltown" have all been produced previously, while the remaining three will be premieres.

The play, written by Clark and co-directed by Clark and Jessica Barkl, details the wacky and comical adventures of Drew, a sexually confused young woman, and her best friend, Bill.

"It's actually pretty autobiographical in the sense that it was kind of inspired by my best friend from childhood and the different things we've done together and the different places we've visited," Clark said.

The scenic and lighting designer, Markus Maurette, created a kinetic set that allows the play to move among the various settings Clark has included in the play. The set includes a rotating center piece that serves as the main location in the play, a swirling, oceanic-looking aqua and green floor, and a panoramic backdrop on which projections will be displayed.

"He's created this really wonderful, open set," Clark said. "All of this is stuff that I think makes this set really different from some other sets in small theaters around."

Another distinguishing factor of this play is its sense of sexuality. Although the play deals with themes of sexuality, it is not trying to forcefully present any ideas, Clark said.

"One of the strengths of this evening of plays is that it can appeal to a gay audience, but also to a straight audience," Clark said. "There's a message of tolerance there for sure but it's a more subtle one, and hopefully one where we can entertain people and not hit them over the head."

"The Road Trip Play, Out/In America," starts Friday at The Vortex.

A portion of all profits from the Sunday showing will be given to Albuquerque Pride, a community-focused gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organization, Clark said.

"I really wanted to do the plays in June because I wanted to kind of hook up with (Albuquerque) Pride," Clark said. "I intentionally chose to have these done in June so we could benefit Pride."

For Clark, seeing a play garner support and eventually move from the page to a live performance is something special.

"I've had a really good cast and production team and about 20 people who have really made the show happen," Clark said. "As a playwright, it's a real gift to go from writing those pages to having all those people support it."