Angry Fags
by Topher Payne

Name: Angry Fags
Brand: Topher Payne
SKU: 9780573705106
Rating: 4.28 (67 reviews)

Angry Fags Book Cover — Angry Fags Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

120 mins Present Day Role(s) for Black Actor(s) Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes Comedy

Synopsis

Bennett is really trying to keep it together right now.

He broke up with his boyfriend and moved in with his best friend, Cooper.

It’s election season, and he’s the speechwriter for Georgia’s only gay state senator, who’s engaged in a bloody campaign against a conservative darling.

Then Bennett’s ex is attacked in the parking lot of a gay bar.

Bennett and Cooper are informed that the assault can’t be classified as a hate crime – because in Georgia, hate crimes against homosexuals don’t legally exist.

Their frustration and fear eventually turn to rage as they realize “acceptance” simply isn’t enough.

They’re still living in a society that relegates them to second-class status.

They’re not respected.

They’re not feared.

It’s time for that to change.

Press Reviews

"Topher Payne's uncompromising Oscar Wilde-meets-Fight Club fantasia."
— American Theatre Magazine

"[Payne] softens the blows with his wickedly fine talent for one-liners, yet there's a heaviness in the room. His laugh lines are balloons weighted to earth like sandbags; that's the yin and the yang, the push and pull of Angry Fags."
— ArtsATL

"Payne gives us two likeable killer queens whose road to domestic terrorism is paved with Paula Deen jokes... Witty, dark, and disconcerting."
— Out Magazine

"It is, quite simply, one of the best plays of this or any year."
— Atlanta Theatre Buzz

"Undeniably relevant and hard-hitting."
— The GA Voice

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
BENNETT RIGGS 30s. Speechwriter for a state senator. Cautiously optimistic, affable. Conflicted.	—	30s	30s. Speechwriter for a state senator. Cautiously optimistic, affable. Conflicted.
COOPER HARLOW 30s. Bennett’s roommate. Caustic, clever, unpredictable. A fancy badass.	—	30s	30s. Bennett’s roommate. Caustic, clever, unpredictable. A fancy badass.
SENATOR ALLISON HAINES 40s. A former activist, now the only out lesbian in the Georgia State Senate. Pragmatic, thoughtful, flawed. A dedicated public servant now wondering what happens when she’s no longer celebrated by the public.	—	40s	40s. A former activist, now the only out lesbian in the Georgia State Senate. Pragmatic, thoughtful, flawed. A dedicated public servant now wondering what happens when she’s no longer celebrated by the public.
KIMBERLY PHILLIPS 30s. The senator’s office manager, a married mother of two. Good-humored, quick, overworked. Probably really enjoyed her early twenties.	female	30s	30s. The senator’s office manager, a married mother of two. Good-humored, quick, overworked. Probably really enjoyed her early twenties.
ADAM LOWELL 30s. The senator’s chief of staff. Undeniably appealing and charmingly square. Likely owns a lot of books about Bobby Kennedy.	—	30s	30s. The senator’s chief of staff. Undeniably appealing and charmingly square. Likely owns a lot of books about Bobby Kennedy.
PEGGY MUSGROVE 40s. The senator’s opponent. Genuine, witty, nimble. A black female Republican, with all the conflicts and potential advantages that implies. She’s found a way to weaponize being othered.	female	40s	40s. The senator’s opponent. Genuine, witty, nimble. A black female Republican, with all the conflicts and potential advantages that implies. She’s found a way to weaponize being othered.
DEIRDRE PRESTON 50s. A local broadcasting legend. Has the shrewd and discerning eye of a brilliant woman who believes her best days are still ahead of her.	female	50s	50s. A local broadcasting legend. Has the shrewd and discerning eye of a brilliant woman who believes her best days are still ahead of her.