by Jess Hoffman
As a general rule, I dislike one-actor plays. Watching one performer speak to the audience for the length of an entire show is not fun for me, unless it has a really intriguing premise, a uniquely talented actor, and a director with vision. Luckily, the first show in Bridge Street Theatre’s SoloFest, titled Palatable Gay Robot, has all three.
Palatable Gay Robot is written and performed by Stephen Brower, who plays a gay entertainment robot named Billie Bowtie. From his first appearance, Brower successfully embodies a robot with physical precision that would make even the strictest movement coach proud. He’s the rare kind of multi-talented performer that can carry a one-actor show and keep it riveting; his singing, dancing, and comedic stylings are all wonderful (and all are showcased over the course of his performance). Even when telling corny puns in an attempt to keep the show “palatable,” Brower sells his most boring jokes with pitch-perfect delivery and hilarious facial expressions.
The play takes us through a test of Billie Bowtie’s functions as an entertainer and as a gay man. We watch as Billie struggles to keep his comedy “palatable” and as he begins to gain sentience and ask questions like “What does it mean to be gay?” It’s an unanswerable question, but my main takeaway from Palatable Gay Robot is that to be gay is to be human. It may sound cliché, but in the context of this particular show it is a nuanced and provocative take.
On the other hand, there’s a missed opportunity for the play to ask “What does it mean to be palatable?” In an era of division and cancel-culture, this seems like a worthy question to ask; but for all the jokes that Billie Bowtie makes which his creator deem “unpalatable,” the comedy in this show barely pushes the envelope by modern comedy standards. Sure, there are jokes about buttholes and sexual acts with Disney princes, and those sorts of jokes might offend, say, the pearl-clutching nanny robot that is one of Billie Bowtie’s predecessors. But I suspect the sort of people attending a play titled Palatable Gay Robot will need something more controversial to start thinking about their own boundaries of what is “palatable.”
With that said, the relatively safe comedy of the show doesn’t mean it is anything less than funny, charming, and highly entertaining. I do think Stephen Brower is a better performer than writer; but that only says so much about Brower’s writing ability, since he is a performer of the highest caliber. As a critic, I must call out missed opportunities when I see them. But the fact is that Brower is such a marvelous entertainer I would be happy to watch him read his own grocery list, especially if he were to sing and dance a bit while doing it. I highly recommend Palatable Gay Robot to anyone who enjoys comedy, but especially to those who have, at some point in their lives, found themselves asking “What does it mean to be gay?”
Bridge Street Theatre presents Palatable Gay Robot, written and performed by Stephen Brower, directed by Zachary Prince, runs from March 6-8, at the Bridge Street Theatre, 44 West Bridge Street in Catskill, NY. Part of SoloFest. Lighting design by John Sowle. Runs approximately 70 minutes with no intermission. https://bridgest.org/