It's All Tru
- Publisher
- Playwrights Canada Press
- Initial publish date
- Jun 2020
- Category
- Gay & Lesbian, Canadian
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780369100948
- Publish Date
- Jun 2020
- List Price
- $17.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780369100962
- Publish Date
- Jun 2020
- List Price
- $12.99
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Description
“There used to be people dying and they didn’t know why and there was nothing anyone could do, but most of all—no one cared whether we lived or whether we died.”
Love, sex, and pharmaceuticals are put to the test when a gay couple’s open relationship is threatened with dangerous consequences.
Kurt, a silver fox dance instructor, and his young fiancé, Travis, have an arrangement: when one’s away, they’re allowed to stray . . . as long as they’re safe. One night, over a dinner conversation about wedding invitations, Travis admits that he had a fling with a man named Gideon whom he believes removed the condom during sex. He also reveals that he didn’t start taking the HIV preventative medication PrEP (Truvada)—as promised—putting himself and Kurt in danger of contracting HIV. When Gideon appears on their doorstep in the middle of the night, the threat against Kurt and Travis’s relationship is an alarming force to be reckoned with.
About the author
Sky Gilbert is a writer, director, and drag queen extraordinaire. He was co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (North Americaâ??s largest gay and lesbian theatre) for 18 years. His hit plays include The Dressing Gown, Drag Queens on Trial, Play Murder, The Emotionalists, and the Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning The Whoreâ??s Revenge. His first three novels: Guilty (1998), St. Stephenâ??s, (1999) and I Am Kasper Klotz (2001) were critically acclaimed. ECW Press published Skyâ??s first collection of poetry, Digressions of a Naked Party Girl, in 1998, and his theatre memoir, Ejaculations from the Charm Factory, in 2000. His second book of collected poems, Temptations for a Juvenile Delinquent, was published by ECW in 2003. He was recently the recipient of the Margo Bindhardt Award (from the Toronto Arts Foundation), the Silver Ticket Award (from the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts), and the ReLit Award (for his fourth novel, An English Gentleman), and also recently received a PhD from the University of Toronto. By day, Sky holds a University Research Chair in Drama and Creative Writing at the University of Guelph.
Excerpt: It's All Tru (by (author) Sky Gilbert)
Kurt: Well I suppose I should thank you for . . . being honest with me . . .
Pause.
I suppose. So have you taken PEP?
Travis: I told you, I have the prescription but—
Kurt: No, not PrEP. PEP.
Travis: Oh, you mean the—
Kurt: Yes PEP, the after one.
Travis: Oh that’s right . . . PrEP is before . . .
Kurt: Which would have been much better to take, but since you haven’t, then you should go to emergency and have them give you PEP right away. Has it been more than seventy-two hours?
Travis: Just.
Kurt: Well that’s what you should do then. Go to emergency tonight.
Travis: Okay, I will.
Kurt: I should say so.
Kurt clears his plate to the counter.
So, are we finished?
Travis: With—
Kurt: With this discussion?
Travis: Yes. I guess so. I just wanted you to know.
Kurt: As long as you take the PEP then we’ll consider the matter over. After all, there’s nothing we can do about it. And then start taking the Truvada. You will start taking the Truvada?
Travis: Of course I will.
Kurt: Good.
Kurt moves to go.
Travis: Where are you going?
Kurt: I’m going to my study.
Travis: Oh.
Pause.
You don’t want any . . . dessert?
Pause.
Kurt: I’m not in the mood right now.
Pause.
Maybe later.
He makes a move to go.
Travis: Kurt.
Kurt: What?
Travis: Are you mad at me?
Kurt: Not exactly. I’m perturbed. But I’ll get over it.
Travis: You will?
Kurt: Of course I will. I love you.
Pause.
Do you want me to go to emergency with you?
Travis: No, I think I can go myself.
Pause.
I love you too, and . . . I’m sorry.
Kurt: Yes, I know you are. See you later.
Kurt leaves the kitchen. Travis starts to clean things up as the lights dim. Music.
Editorial Reviews
“A heavy-hitting, hypothetical case study and modern parable showing how outdated HIV disclosure laws can ruin lives for no good reason and reinforce dangerous stigmas.”
Jordan Bimm, NOW Magazine
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