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Gay composing team tackles heterosexual romance in the musical After the Fair
"Adaptations," says lyricist Stephen Cole, "are
my forte." 
It's no surprise then, that Cole's current show, the off-Broadway musical After the Fair, is an adaptation of a Thomas Hardy short story called "On the Western Circuit."
"It's easier," says Cole. "You've got a well-made story ready to go that you can expand on, and if there are characters that appeal to you, you can work on expanding their relationships.
Cole says he first read the story more than a decade ago, and brought it to his collaborator, composer Matthew Ward. The two, who had recently completed a musical adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story "I Sing the Body Electric," were soon working on the new play.
"It hit me right away that this was the story we were looking for - strong emotional passion, a strong plot, and humor," says Cole. The story also had a tone that he knew would match Ward's "strong, melodic" music.
The first staged reading of the play was back in 1988. After an award-winning full production in Dallas three years ago and subsequent versions in Chicago and Seattle, After the Fair has finally arrived in New York, Cole and Ward's hometown.
In the story, which is set in provincial England in the 1890's, a middle-aged, unhappily married woman named Edith agrees to write love letters on behalf of her 18-year-old illiterate maid Anna to the young woman's paramour, a handsome barrister from London. But as Anna's suitor falls for Anna's physical beauty and (unknowingly) Edith's romantic words, the seemingly innocent favor soon puts strains on the older woman's relationship with her husband, the younger woman's relationship with the barrister, and the women's relationship with each other.
"The bulk of the story is focused
on the women," says Ward, noting that while the stage
adaptation actually includes more about the two men than the
Hardy story, After the Fair still focuses on Edith and
Anna. "That's not something I think straight writers would
have done."
Cole and Ward, who are gay, say their sexuality influenced how they interpreted the story.
"Our being gay might have added to our understanding of the central theme of the show. As gay people, we all fight with this every day: the love that lives in the mind versus the love that lives in the body," says Cole. "When the sex is good, is that enough?" And when you have an emotional connection to a person, is that enough? Which part of love is most important? Of course, putting it all together is most important - but it doesn't always happen that way."
Director Travis Sockley - who is also gay - adds that sexuality may influence how audiences respond to the show.
"Gay men have more willingness to accept a vulnerable or sensitive side that a lot of straight men are not comfortable with,: says Sockley.
All three men note the split they have noticed among audiences and critics alike.
"Our female audiences and our gay male audiences get everything," says Cole. But straight men are a little frightened of it."
The three men are collaborating on future projects, including another musical adaptation for next season off-Broadway based on a bittersweet short novel from the 1940's. As Sockley points out, even if the material is not overtly gay, gay writers and directors interpret theater in a way different from their straight counterparts.
"Gay writers and straight writers do the same thing: entertain," says Sockley. "But gay writers and directors are much freer to go to dangerous places. The way we love is not accepted, and therefore dangerous. I personally applauded the actors when they went to dangerous places emotionally because we have to do it all the time."