The New Century

THE BENT, Palm Springs Premier LGBTQ+ Theatre Company presents the West Coast Premier, The New Century by Paul Rudnick on February 8 - 18, 2024.

When the playwright is Paul Rudnick, expectations are geared for a play both hilarious and smart, and THE NEW CENTURY is no exception. It is a funny and outrageous comedy, but it doesn’t stop there—it also raises questions that aren’t easily answered.

Helene Nadler from Long Island, a Jewish mother who has weathered the uniquely varied coming outs of all three of her children (we get to meet her leather slave son); Ellen Diggs, a home-crafts fanatic from Decatur who originally thought the World Trade Center was attacked by people in cheap cotton fabric when she heard they were “muslin” terrorists (but she will tug on your heart when she talks about her late gay son); and Mr. Charles who was run out of Manhattan for being too stereotypically gay and now has a cable access show in Palm Beach where he is billed as “The Gayest Man in the Universe” and his very, very sexy assistant, Shane (who we get to see a WHOLE LOT of) are the delightful characters mixed together for this hysterical night of theater. 

Rudnick’s other plays included JEFFREY and THE MOST FABULOUS STORY EVER TOLD, the Adam and Steve story.