“The Pass,” a play which opened on an off-Broadway theater called La MaMa, is an incredibly emotional, heartfelt and intimate depiction of sacrifice.
“The Pass” is a three-act sequence following the lives of two unsuspecting 17-year-old British football players, named Ade and Jason, the night before a big match. The two spend the night gloating over each other, interspersed with moments of sexual tension until, after much hesitation, the tension is resolved by Ade kissing Jason. Afterwards, Jason insinuates that Ade should join him in the shower.
The second act opens with Jason alongside a new woman, Lyndsey, walking into a hotel room presumably to engage in sexual intercourse.The audience later learns that this sexual encounter was merely a ploy for Jason to dismiss the rumors circulating around his sexuality and those implying he was gay, despite having a wife and kids. The act ends with Lyndsey and Jason beginning to put his plan into action by filming a sex tape.
Jason and Ade are together in a hotel room to begin the third and final act. Jason is biking on the Peloton bike he has in the room, and Ade is quizzing him as to why he asked to meet. The two go back and forth, being cruel to one another one moment and being very sweet the next, with mentions sprinkled in of the night they shared together, that now took place 12 years ago.
During this conversation, the audience learns that Ade has a boyfriend and a successful plumbing business, while Jason is newly divorced and is nearing the end of his football career due to a prolonged knee injury, which shows how contrasting their lives are.
After the conversation, the two begin to dance around the hotel room with one another to relive their glory days.
Near the end of this sequence, Jason attempts to kiss Ade but is quickly rejected. Soon after, a hotel bellboy appears in the room, summoned by Jason.
The bellboy is used as both a captive audience and plaything for Jason, while he drinks copious amounts of alcohol and abuses his prescription pain medication. Ade, being Jason’s friend, tries to stop him repeatedly but eventually gives in to protect both Jason and the bellboy from their own self-destruction.
Jason gets bored with the bellboy, kicks him out of the room and then he and Ade finally have a serious conversation about what they are.
The play ends with Jason passing around his hotel room, failing to talk to his children and biking vigorously on his Peloton.
The play is a chaotic mix of emotions that leaves the audience tense and waiting for the pin to drop most of the show.
With the rising popularity of queer sports romance, this play takes a gritty perspective, offering a new level complexity and realism to the idea of two male athletes not only being gay but also having feelings for one another. According to the New York Theatre Guide, the play has a 75% audience approval rating, and the show was recommended by The New York Times, along with 13 other off-Broadway productions currently running for its depiction of such crucial present day topics.
“The Pass” was first performed at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2014 and has since been adapted into a movie with the same name in 2016. The play opened on Aug. 3 and was originally set to close on Sept. 4 but was extended through Sept. 18 due to popular demand as well as the overwhelmingly positive reactions of viewers.
