by Macey Levin
David Zellnik’s musical entitled “Yank” about gay soldiers during World War Two ran off-Broadway in 2005; it had several workshops in New York, but no Broadway producer or company took an option to produce it. In 2017 a production in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sent Zellnik to Rio to meet with the producer, a twenty-six year old named George. As they bantered about musical theatre they developed a close friendship which led Zellnik to fall in love with the Brazilian culture and language. “O Time”, the third play in Bridge Street Theatre’s “Solofest” explores the relationship between the two men and the playwright’s experiences in Rio while trying to determine why George died at the age of twenty-eight. The play is based on true events.
Zellnik talks frankly about his homosexuality. Sitting on an easy chair that he has brought from his apartment in Manhattan, with one leg bent under him, he captivates the audience with his many-layered tale of his tribulations in New York and Brazil. When he arrives in Rio, the country has just elected a new president, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, who is, among other things, homophobic. The core of the play is the mystery behind George’s death. Officially, the cause was a bacterial infection. Several of George’s friends tell Zellnik they don’t believe it. Their suspicion is that it was AIDS. The cover-up is led by the medical profession, not to mention the political dynamic and family embarrassment.
The friends say that as George lost a great deal of weight, his body and energy changed. Zellnik becomes convinced that AIDS is the true cause, something that can’t be publicized in Brazil. In conversations with the friends, male and female, a portrait is drawn of an engaging, talented young man who was probably bisexual. One of the most touching exchanges is with George’s father who cries as he remembers his son. The unfolding of the events of the play are agonizing.
For most of the play Zellnik sits in the easy chair recreating both sides of the conversations by changing accents, vocal tones and shifting his gaze from side to side. He offers a short, humorous lesson in Portuguese. At one point he plays an old 78 rpm recording of a song in Portuguese that complements the story he is telling. He utilizes a broad range of emotions that provide the details of his painful narrative. His performance is warm and compelling as he, too, drops a few tears.
He is obviously still carrying the anguish of that time in Rio. The audience intuits how much George’s friendship and death remains a hallmark of Zellick’s life and is symbolic of how much the world has lost through the AIDS epidemic.
O Time, written and performed by David Zellnik; Director: Danilo Gambini; Light and sound design: Carmen Borgia; Production stage manager: Hannarose Manning; Running time: one hour; 3/21-23/2025
Next Solofest:
MARCH 28 – 30, 2025
FRIDAY & SATURDAY @ 7:30, SUNDAY @ 2:00
For tickets: bridgestreettheatre.org