John Binnie began a small theater company with a good friend of his in Scotland soon after he left the University. Theater, he says, often becomes an elitist form of entertainment, only those who can afford to go attend, he didn't want his plays to be li ke that. His theater company has taken their plays through small neighborhood theaters, and performed free shows in conjunction with workshops in housing projects and other communities. Binnie's plays are written from his personal experiences, they prov ide a look at how unconventional relationships have to survive the same problems of daily life that others go through. John Binnie smiled as he remembered taking Love Among the Juveniles into a school, and into an unemployment center, and how the audiences felt free to voice their feelings as they truly became part of the show.
Theater, Binnie believes, is useless if it doesn't portray a message. The plays performed by MW Rep. illustrate many scenes from Binnie's life. Homosexuality is shown in a positive, normal light, bringing out the fact that it is simply a sexual orientat ion, and that relationships of any orientation experience the same problems of learning to love. The problems of long distance relationships, inter-race relationships, living with an ilyostemy and still wanting to be intimate, and having to suddenly havi ng a friend who was once strong be left weak physically and mentally by an accident are all brought to life on stage. A Little Older reveals Sandy's struggles to help his friend Isla, played by Rachel M. Kelly, regain her memory after cracking her skull. He forces her to think back to when they first met as elementary school children, when she discovered her sexuality and told him that he was not wrong because of his, when the grew up a little and he went to college. During Isla's recovery the a udience watches as her memory begins to return, she begins speaking again, and regains her lively attitude, yet she asks one day why she eats and how. Sandy, played by Ryan Blanchard, becomes the strength behind a friendship that Isla once drove.
Friendship is the heart of Love Among the Juveniles as well. Ailsa and Finn, played by Tara Halwes and Todd Dibble, together with Finn's mother Jean, played by Katie Horning, stand by each other as they learn how to deal with unconventional relati onships. Finn's boyfriend is nervous about himself and his feelings, Ailsa's fallen in love with a man from Zimbabwe who has to return home, Jean is longing for love even though she is uncomfortable about her physical problem. Love wins out all around, though, in both plays, as the characters realize that it is the most important thing in friendship and living.
Love Among the Juveniles was highly criticized when it first came out, for being both fairy tale like and for making audiences face a homosexual love scene. It brought out some very controversial issues, but portrayed them in a happy ending atmosp here. The WPI community seemed very open to the play, though, even if audiences were a little shocked they left the theater saying how good the plays were.
John Binnie writes his plays for people. Theater, he says, is a communal art, the play changes and grows as it passes from playwright to director and actors and then to the audience. He hadn't seen either of these two plays in a while, and confessed t hat he found himself wondering what would happen next. A play is good when it absorbs everyone involved, right down to the audience watching, and that is what these plays do. As the true story unfolds, in both plays, the audience is drawn in, putting it s prejudices aside, and begins to relate to the issues that the characters deal with. MW Repertory has a tradition of doing a very personal kind of theater, and they truly succeeded in bringing another show to WPI theater that will not soon be forgotten.