Poignant Coming Out Story Returns

Playwright and actor Jeffrey Solomon brings his semi-autobiographical play “MotherSON,” which premiered at the HERE Arts Center in Soho more than a decade ago, back to Manhattan for five shows beginning January 8.

The one-man show, which he performs, chronicles the funny and poignant experiences a young gay man and his mother go through together during his journey coming out. Both the play and Solomon have won numerous awards during nationwide tours of theaters and festivals.

Solomon earned an Emmy nomination as a writer on the TV pilot of Jim Henson’s “CityKids” and is a founding member and artistic director of Houses on the Moon, a New York theater company that aims to tell stories about communities, including LGBT youth, whose lives often fly under the radar of popular attention.

Solomon just completed a run of his “Santa Claus Is Coming Out,” which Gay City News critic Christopher Byrne (in “Santa Baby,” online at gaycitynews.com) hailed as “an engaging, effective, and political piece of satire that is also a heartwarming, alternative holiday tale.” Describing Solomon as “an adept and appealing performer,” Byrne wrote, “Like the best satire, it is simultaneously hilarious and chilling. The most trenchant of Solomon’s observations, though, is saved for the effect that banning Santa Claus has on children, who don’t understand why someone they love is suddenly evil — a telling commentary on the ways in which hatred is taught.”

“MotherSON” runs Jan. 8, 8:15 p.m.; Jan.9, 1 & p.m.; Jan. 10, 6 p.m.; Jan. 11, 4 p.m. at TBG Theatre, 312 W. 36th St., third fl. Ticket are $15 at smarttix.com or 212-868-4444. Gay City News readers can use “Save” for $10 admission. For $20 admission price, $8 will benefit PFLAG NYC.