MACON, Ga. — Macon Pride Week is in full swing this week and the celebration of the LGBTQ+ community in Central Georgia continues with a one-man show at Theatre Macon on Thursday.
The show is called A Friend of the Groom. It is the autobiographical comedy about the wedding of a gay architect who recently had a breakup with his boyfriend David and then marries a Japanese dancer so she can stay in the country.
At the same time, Mark Mobley, fresh from a breakup with his ex-boyfriend, another David, spends the weekend in Miami and tells us the story of his friend’s wedding and the frantic Miami nightlife in the 90’s.
“I figured you know I was there, I’m a reporter, I know how to talk I can tell the story. And so, it’s the story of this one nutty wedding and then other wedding stories. I collect wedding stories,” Mobley said.
He says his is drawn to wedding disaster stories, like the one he went to as a young man.
The show is filled with not only the story of his friend but it also has stories from other lesbian, gay, bisexual and straight people with their own wild, disaster weddings.
Mobley says the story is a time capsule of what life was like during the time before marriage equality or the wider acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community we experience now.
“I think it’s interesting to go back and look at how people functioned before that institution was available. You know what were gay people’s dating lives and relationships like?” Mobley said.
The two institutions that integrate LGBTQ+ into larger society and make others comfortable with the community were marriage and the military, Mobley said.
Since many people from these groups felt historically shut out from them, Mobley says it’s interesting to see these same institutions adapt and change to include more people.
With this monologue, he says he is reporting from the past.
“It’s a time capsule for me personally and for the movement at large,” he said.
At its core, this story is a comedy.
He says many of the characters are fun and intelligent people. The story of the LGBTQ+ community, as with any marginalized community he says, is finding humor in difficult situations.
“I’m no historian, don’t get me wrong, but from what I’ve read and from what I’ve lived, you know, parts of it are unbelievable sad and parts of it are unbelievably great. So, this monologue I think is on the good side, they’re tinges of sadness in it but that’s with any human story. I think if you’re a straight person encountering this story it’s just fun,” he said.
He says he hopes people can embrace their own unique stories and experiences after seeing the show.
“Hopefully the story itself and my performance of it are enough to get people to know me and you know maybe see a little of themselves in me. And enjoy the story as it unfolds,” Mobley said.
The show will happen Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets will be sold art the door. For a full list of Macon Pride events can be found here.
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