angry fags
a dark comedy in two acts
4 f/3 m
“It’s only terrorism if it doesn’t work. When it works, we call it a revolution.”
An out lesbian state senator is up for re-election. Her female opponent is a moderate conservative who’s aligned herself with right-wing extremists. They’re locked in a tight race in which each side dog-whistles to its base and any event can become instantaneously politicized.
When a gay man is bashed with a baseball bat and left to die, his ex-boyfriend, a campaign aide for the incumbent senator, is enraged. But it’s the unwillingness of his boss to label it a hate-crime that tips him over the edge.
Teaming up with his best friend, the two men embark on a vendetta of sabotage and assassinations, reasoning that if gays aren’t respected enough to win equal justice and rights, fear will achieve what good intentions and politics cannot.
Vicious, deliciously subversive, brutal and breathtakingly funny, this dystopian revenge tragedy pushes every button.
"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
"A comedy thriller for the modern age" - BroadwayWorld Sydney
"A gay gentleman's guide to love and murder [...] Filled with tension but laced with moments of black humor and rigged with unexpected twists and turns." - Chicago Tribune
"A must-see [...] The show addresses serious subject matter in an empathetic and sensitive matter, with a generous helping of relatable humor." - Examiner.com
"It is, quite simply, one of the best plays of this or any year." - Atlanta Theatre Buzz
"Payne gives us two likeable killer queens whose road to domestic terrorism is paved with Paula Deen jokes [...] Witty, dark, and disconcerting." - Out Magazine
"Undeniably relevant and hard-hitting." - The GA Voice
2013 Suzi Bass Awards
Winner, Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award
Nominee, Outstanding World Premiere
Nominee, Outstanding Direction of a Play, Justin Anderson
Nominee, Outstanding Featured Actress, Suehyla El-Attar (Kimberly Phillips)
7 Stages
Atlanta, Georgia
World Premiere, 2013
Pride Films & Plays
at Steppenwolf Garage
Chicago, Illinois
2014
Island City Stage
Wilton Manors, Florida
2014
7 Stages
Atlanta, Georgia
2019
Portland Stage
Portland, Maine
2019
New Theatre
Sydney, Australia
2020