THE STORY: Beau, a pianist expat living in London, meets Rufus, an eccentric young lawyer, at the dawn of the internet dating revolution. After a life spent recovering from the disappointment and hurt of loving men in a world that refused to allow it, Beau is determined to keep his expectations low with Rufus. But Rufus comes from a new generation of gay men who believe happiness is as much their right as anyone else’s, and what Beau assumed would be just another fling grows into one of the most surprising and defining relationships of his life. A remarkably moving, brilliantly funny love story, GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM reflects the triumphs and heartbreaks of the entire length of the gay rights movement, celebrating and mourning the ghosts of the men and women who led the way for equality, marriage, and the right to dream.
“…Sherman paints a portrait of endurance in the face of discrimination, and of how gay men...formed new families when their blood ones abandoned them. Now there are marriage and children, but Beau, while awed by this brave new world, is a daily reminder of the price that had to be paid. Left unsaid, but looming over the show, is that…rights come, but they also go.” —The New York Times.
“Martin Sherman’s tender, funny and unconventional romance…deals with seismic shifts in culture, attitudes and the differing expectations for happiness…[GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM] is hopeful, healing and forward-looking, even as it reflects an old-fashioned boy-meets-boy template but with a new twist.” —Variety.
