Playwright Stephen R. Culp with director Jimmy Bohr

Julio Rivera was a gay bartender living in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City. He was brutally slain in the early hours of the morning on Monday, July 2nd, 1990 in the schoolyard of PS 69. Initially, police dismissed the murder as a drug deal gone bad: PS 69’s schoolyard was a well-known cruising ground for gay men and, “of course,” gay men use lots of drugs. New York’s finest neglected to seal off the crime scene or search for weapons or clues. Because of continued pressure from outraged members of the gay community, police kept the investigation open and four months after the murder arrested three young skinheads. One of them pleaded guilty and chose to testify against his friends in exchange for a manslaughter charge down from second-degree murder. They called themselves the “Doc Marten Stompers” and had set out that night to create notoriety for themselves by going to the well-known gay cruising spot to ambush “a person in their view society would not mourn the loss of — a gay man.”

The murder became a rallying point for gay rights activists, and the youths’ convictions helped establish hate crime laws in New York City and focus national attention on the problem. Julio Rivera was beaten and left for dead, but as he lay dying, his lover of nine years found him and cradled him in his lap during his last moments of life. It is this moment where we pick up The 13 Hallucinations of Julio Rivera. “I decided to turn a deeply sad story on its ear and make it a fantasy,” says Stephen R. Culp, “While the play has its serious moments, I wanted it to be primarily a celebration... life-affirming.” And therein lies the magic in 13 Hallucinations. Culp plays with gay iconography, bringing Dorothy from Oz and Madonna (from Detroit) in to help shepherd Julio into the afterlife. Culp says, “For many gay men (and probably for everyone), Dorothy’s Kansas represents that idealized notion of home, where there is unconditional love, family, safety. It’s the unattainable ideal, the home we never had... the home that was being sought when thousands of gays and lesbians stood in line in the rain this February for the public affirmation that the home they had created was real… All roads lead to Oz! In gay lore, Dorothy is the icon. She personifies the journey.”

Culp has also achieved the journey through his original and well-crafted use of language, juxtaposing aria-like monologues and rapid-fire exchanges that simulate disco/hip hop cadences. At one point, he plays with street slang and style, turning language and gangwear into what amounts to “The Angry Skinhead Fashion Show.” Culp’s ear and the discipline of his craft give him an enviable quality for any playwright — the ability to break out of poignant and heavy moments with humor, and conversely, to follow absolutely hilarious scenes with a return to the somber and a reminder of reality.

In a recent interview, Stephen speaks to the import and impact of 13 Hallucinations:

This is not a labor play. It is not political. It is meant to heal, not rabble-rouse. It is about dream endings and the phoenix rising from ash. It is about that lonely journey we all take. And about the love that sustains us. It’s about that piece of our hearts which is utterly divine, and that corner of our soul that is dark and capable of hate.

The optimist in me hopes that the audience will take home a simple message: that we are all angels, but we all have feet of clay. Recognizing this could change the world. Just as Julio Rivera did that hot July night on a lonely patch of asphalt.

Mark Routhier
Literary Manager

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