Straight White Men

Starring Armie Hammer

Obie Award-winning playwright Young Jean Lee returns in 2018 at Broadway's Helen Hayes' Theatre, with her searing black comedy that won over critics both Off-Broadway in 2016, and at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater. Peeling back social privilege and personal identity, Jean Lee's surprisingly conventional play marks a stark departure from her more eclectic efforts such as Church and We're Gonna Die, winning broad praise from critics across the Big Apple. Starring Kate Bornstein, Josh Charles, Ty Defoe, and Armie Hammer, who combined have a mass collection of awards and nominations.

What is it about?

Meet family patriarch Ed. Hosting his three adult sons over the Christmas holidays, they all revel in acting like the men they wish to be; trash-talking, drinking, playing tricks on each other and consuming copious amounts of Chinese takeout food. However their happy revelry comes to an abrupt end when their conversations move to something more serious; the question of their success as straight white males and the privilege their late, liberal mother encouraged them to recognize from an early age. Rather than riduculing the characters, Jean Lee's sympathetic exploration of masculinity asks us to walk in their shoes.

In a world where white men are increasingly being asked to sit down, quit mansplaining, manspreading and generally shut up, this carefully balanced study of a loving family of said men recognizes that it isn't as straightforward as on paper, whilst portraying a genuinely positive collection of likeable relatives, something that is often lacking from the stage.