Outfest Review: The Year We Thought About Love

Anyone who's been involved in theater knows what a cathartic, expressive, and communal environment the stage can be.  Exhausting rehearsals, trial-and-error blocking, and team-building exercises make for a unique collaborative process, and the connections made backstage are special in their strength, vulnerability, and power.  Those bonds are on bold display in Ellen Brodsky's lovely documentary, The Year We Thought About Love, about the Boston-based LGBTQA theater troupe True Colors: OUT Youth Theater.

There's something Glee-like (but never so cloying) in this troupe, which is made up of queer teens and young adults; it's an open, accepting oasis in these kids' lives.  Introductions include each member stating his or her preferred pronouns, the plays performed are based on personal experiences, and criticism is always constructive and sincere.  The violence, judgment, and rejection that plague their lives are either left at the door or molded into artistic expression.  True Colors provides a safe space to explore the complexities of being young, queer, and - as the film's title suggests - in love.

Brodsky constructs the film into a loose frame narrative: we open with a glimpse at the troupe performing for a whooping high school audience, then turn back the clock to meet the players and see the creative process at work.  Despite clocking in at under 70 minutes, Brodsky manages to give numerous members ample screen time, seeing them at home, at True Colors, and in social settings.  Some of the most emotional moments arrive during interviews with some of the kids' parents, who range from loving and accepting to completely the opposite.  One of the film's biggest presences is Alyssa, a transgender girl who was kicked out of her home, lives with her sister, and wants to attend school at Emerson.  Alyssa's journey is particularly poignant as she teeters on the verge of adulthood, getting ready to start hormones and head to college.  She questions whether her piece will resonate with others, while also grappling with whether it's too personal to perform.

The other True Colors members represent the broad spectrum of the queer community: there are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and genderqueer members.  There's also a plethora of races, and even a devout Christian who uses theater to explore the tension between sexuality and religion, and whose words stimulate thought and discussion for the other members of the group.  It's inspiring to see such confident, articulate, and vibrant young people embracing who they are and putting their lives in the public eye for the sake of enlightening, entertaining, and engaging others in necessary conversations. Throughout the film, we see audience members at the high school performance asking questions, ranging from silly ("Where did you get your shirt?") to more piercing, frank, and useful.  Theatrical expression is obviously important for the creators of the show as a means of parsing personal experience, but it's also a vital way to bring others into the discussion.  By wearing one's shoes publicly, it makes it easier for someone watching to walk a mile in them.

That's one of the reasons True Colors and The Year We Thought About Love are so worth celebrating. Maybe this film will inspire others to start similar groups in this areas.  Maybe it'll help queer kids who feel lonely know that they aren't so alone.  Maybe it'll galvanize creative types to delve into their own experiences and to make more queer art, in whatever medium suits them.  There's power in being seen, especially being seen by choice, and that bravery, that honesty, can change lives.  It's clear that the work being done at True Colors is doing just that.