Theater: “Merry Me” at NYTW

In “Merry Me” (NYTW), Hansol Jung takes the story of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and turns it into an unfunny queer satire. The setting: an island not far away from “the vulnerable coasts of the enemy state, where a mysterious blackout has left the Navy restless and itching for action.”

Lieutenant Shane Horne (the muscular trans actor Esco Touley) is all too ready to provide it. Shane occupies their time satisfying the libidinous needs of all the women on the base—including the general’s wife (Cindy Cheung) and the frustrated spouse (Nicola Villamilz) of the general’s weakling son (Ryan Spahn). An Angel (the charismatic Shaunette Renee Wilson) serves as the unofficial narrator.

From this point forward, the play descends into an endless array of smutty double-entendres and putdowns of “white CIS-gender males.” Talented actors wasted on this drivel. Sign me up—not.

I regret that this sort of juvenile shtick can make it onto an off-Broadway stage. I’m surprised that an incubator of originality like NYTW took the bait. Or maybe I’m just getting too old.

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