Diversionary’s current show may be billed as the West Coast Premiere, but the story of Fair Use is not an original tale. In fact, the theatre does not even shy away from comparing it to other famous works, because that’s what makes this romantic comedy so funny.
“I like to think of it as a lesbian take on the Cyrano de Bergerac story, set in a Chicago law office,” said James Vasquez, the show’s director. “Within the law office, there is a love triangle between the three lawyers, and that’s where the Cyrano story comes in.”
The love triangle is between a male lawyer, Chris (played by Wyatt Ellison) and his co-counsel, Madi (played by Jacque Wilke). Since Chris is “not very good at romance,” Vasquez says, he enlists the help of their boss, Sy (played by Amanda Sitton), to help write love letters for him. Secretly, Sy is in love with Madi.
“In the end, without giving it away, you can imagine who ends up with whom,” Vasquez said.
Playwright Sarah Gubbins toys with the Cyrano influences on multiple levels within Fair Use. The title itself, by definition, is a legal term that allows use of copyrighted material to inspire other materials without requiring permission. The character Chris is a reference to Cyrano’s Christian and Sy could be homage to Cyrano himself. Plus, the three lawyers in Fair Use are working together on a very high-profile plagiarism case.
“We’ve taken it a step further and thrown some stylistic surprises in the mix, which are also borrowed,” Vasquez said, an out and proud director, adding that some of the directing choices have been “influenced by some romance stories that have influenced me over the years.”
“The playwright has done a great job at really exploring the emotions of these characters,” he explains. “Whenever they get into talking about their emotions, or whenever they get into these heightened senses of love or lust or romance, the language itself has a heightened sense. We’ve taken those moments, and actually allowed the play to go to a heightened place. The world changed, the lights change, and the actors go into a slight film noir mode.”
His influences? Humphrey Bogart, Rosalind Russell and Peter Lorre, just to name a few.
“It’s fun. It’s flirty. It’s sexy. It’s a little dangerous. It’s very heightened,” he continued. “That’s what love is. Love and love and lust and feelings we have are silly and funny and dangerous. We’ve taken those moments and pushed them a little bit.”
The extra steps are new to the show, being added by this production’s creative team.
“This is Diversionary’s version of Fair Use,” the director said. “It is completely faithful to Sarah’s intent on the story, but we have added our own flair and our own magic and spark to it.”
Vasquez has a history of adding his own special bit of magic to the shows he works on. He has previously directed and choreographed Diversionary’s Twist (a gay interpretation on Oliver Twist) and last summer’s [title of show], which earned him a San Diego Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Direction and Resident Musical. He won the Craig Noel San Diego Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical, with Sean Murray, for Cygnet Theatre’s Sweeney Todd. Other credits include directing Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (since 2003) and Boeing-Boeing at the Old Globe Theatre, Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Cygnet and Into The Woods at New Village Arts.
All musicals.
“I’ve been very lucky the last couple of years to have been working very regularly directing theater in San Diego, but I’ve done all musicals up to this point,” Vasquez admitted. “(Artistic Director) Dan Kirsh at Diversionary presented the script to me and said, ‘It’s a play. Would you be interested in doing a play?’ I read the script and thought it was fun and whimsical, so I said yes.”
Vasquez said the show has become a passion project for him. He’s always been a fan of the underdog, and was drawn to Madi, the shows main character.
“It’s fun to tell the story through her perspective. I really wanted to tell the story through her eyes and see her succeed, to see the underdog hero get the girl in the end,” he said. “I think we’ve succeeded in doing that. We’re telling a fun story and that’s one of the things that attracted me to the script.”
Vasquez said that even though the show is a lesbian tale – fitting into the theatre’s mission statement of presenting quality productions for the LGBT community – it has a much broader appeal. Like the Cyrano story that it’s based upon, the story is universal.
“It is a lesbian love story, but it is written and performed in such a way that straight men, straight women, gay men and gay women are all going to see themselves in these characters,” he said, adding, “and take away the meaning, take away the love. Take away the fun.
“It’s a fun, magical evening,” he continued. “I think the moral of the story is follow your heart. I don’t think it’s going to change anyone’s lives, but audiences are leaving smiling, talking about it, and having a good time, and having laughed a lot – and maybe turned on a little, too. There are a handful of sexy moments that tease the audience and flirt with them without ever giving the full payoff, which I think is fun.”
Join the fun. Fair Use plays through March 13. Diversionary Theatre is located at 4545 Park Blvd. in University Heights. For information, call the box office at 619-220-0097 or log on to diversionary.org.
