In popular culture Thief River, the play The celebrated American playwright Lee Blessing’s work, Thief River, premiered in 2000 at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. It subsequently ran Off-Broadway in New York in June 2001 to mixed reviews, and later had a longer run in San Francisco. The Wall Street Journal called it "an old fashioned gay love story - one where love is upstaged by shame, secrecy and social defiance." It is the story of Gil and Ray, who at age 17 were secret lovers in what one reviewer called "a small homophobic Minnesota town in the '40s"—presumably Thief River Falls. The plot portrays a love between these two men that spans 53 years. As stated by another reviewer, "The play attempted to show what it would be like to be a gay man in a small town in the late '40s, when two men kissing would have been a revolutionary act."Richard Connema, "The West Coast Premier of Lee Blessing's, Thief River", San Francisco Chronicle, 2002 The play most recently ran in Chicago in early 2007, where it was called "the definitive work capturing the homosexual experience in the rural American Midwest over the last 50 years.".Rick R. Reed, Theater: The Other Side of the ‘River’, Windy City Times, Feb. 28, 2007) The specific Minnesota connection of the play is unstated, but playwright Blessing grew up in the Twin Cities area and attended Minnetonka High School before leaving for Reed College in Oregon in the late 1960s.
in popular culture thief river the play the celebrated american playwright lee blessing’s work thief river premiered in 2000 at the eugene o'neill theater center in waterford connecticut it subsequently ran off-broadway in new york in june 2001 to mixed reviews and later had a longer run in san francisco the wall street journal called it "an old fashioned gay love story - one where love is upstaged by shame secrecy and social defiance" it is the story of gil and ray who at age 17 were secret lovers in what one reviewer called "a small homophobic minnesota town in the '40s"—presumably thief river falls the plot portrays a love between these two men that spans 53 years as stated by another reviewer "the play attempted to show what it would be like to be a gay man in a small town in the late '40s when two men kissing would have been a revolutionary act"richard connema "the west coast premier of lee blessing's thief river" san francisco chronicle 2002 the play most recently ran in chicago in early 2007 where it was called "the definitive work capturing the homosexual experience in the rural american midwest over the last 50 years"rick r reed theater the other side of the ‘river’ windy city times feb 28 2007) the specific minnesota connection of the play is unstated but playwright blessing grew up in the twin cities area and attended minnetonka high school before leaving for reed college in oregon in the late 1960s