A joyfully queer fantasia that draws on jazz music and operatic form to reimagine the last hours of Socrates as an ecstatic celebration.
The latest work from playwright Taylor Mac and composer Matt Ray takes us to ancient Athens on the eve of the death of famous philosopher Socrates. Sentenced to die for corrupting the youth (by having sex with them), Socrates decides to spend his remaining hours doing what he loves: engaging in philosophical debate about the true meaning of virtue. And singing songs. And dancing. And just, you know, hanging out. What follows is a musical-theatrical riff on philosophical history, complete with a Plato who assiduously but inaccurately writes it all down, implying that what’s most essential in life, as in theater, are the unwritable moments of joyous communion. In other words, “the hang.”
US
Taylor Mac (who uses “judy”—lowercase [sic]—as a gender pronoun) is the author of Joy and Pandemic; The Hang (composed by Matt Ray); Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus; A 24-Decade History of Popular Music; Prosperous Fools; The Fre; Hir; The Walk Across America for Mother Earth; The Lily’s Revenge; The Young Ladies Of; Red Tide Blooming; The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac; and the revues Comparison Is Violence; Holiday Sauce; and The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville (created with Mandy Patinkin, Susan Stroman, and Paul Ford). Mac is the first Ameriló5
![The Hang [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/5/0/1/2_6945103.jpg "The Hang [Paperback]")