Friendship Against All Odds

I went to see Two Men Talking at the Barrow Street Theater in the West Village last night. Paul Browde and Murray Nossel, the two men talking, hail from Johannesburg. This is unscripted theater where Paul and Murray confront issues in their lives that would make the average person's toes curl. The two men went to King David High School and Wits University. And then each faced their homosexuality, came out and moved to New York City. Except since 1974, when each man was 14 and they were paired off by their teacher to tell one another a story, they hadn't spoken. (They'll tell you why). These were parallel journeys. Paul, only a few years after coming out, became HIV+. He is now a psychiatrist with a practice on 102nd Street, and he openly declares his status. (He tells me that even from his empowered and privileged standpoint, he still feels the stigma).
Murray met Paul when Paul's French-Canadian boyfriend was hired to direct Murray's play. Murray is a qualified but non-practicing clinical psychologist and an Oscar-nominated film maker. These days he's a full time story teller, offering the art to corporations through his company Narrative Inc.
Imagine their surprise -- to discover one another again, in a different time, a different place, a different sexuality. The two have been best friends ever since. Paul introduced Murray to his partner of 15 years, also a doctor living with HIV. And Two Men Talking has been performed around the world for the past 10 years. When they took the play to South Africa, King David High School wouldn't allow them to perform it for the students (yawn), but Paul and Murray took it into the Soweto and Alexandra townships and into Aids organizations in the Western Cape.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, had this to say: "Storytelling is a powerful medium for communication. Especially in situations where the message is too painful, too embarrassing, too secret to speak it. Storytelling can then become a journey to the truth. Paul Browde and Murray Nossel have been telling their story on stage to acclaim. They speak of being gay, homophobia, racism and HIV/AIDS, subjects that should be acknowledged and discussed but which are too often avoided or denied."

Murray and Paul joined us for dinner after the show. At the end of the evening, Murray said: "Paul and I will do Two Men Talking until one of us dies."

In New York, the show runs at the Barrow Theater on 7th Avenue and Barrow Street until May 3. See it.