Monsters of the American Cinema

photograph by Carol Spags Photography

When his husband dies, Remy Washington, a Black man, finds himself both the owner of a drive-in movie theater and a caregiver to his late husband’s straight, white teenage son, Peter, who goes by “Pup”. United by their love of classic American monster movies, the two have developed a warm and caring familial chemistry – but their relationship fractures when Remy discovers how differently Pup behaves outside the home they have made together. The playwright, Christian St. Croix shared – “With Monsters of the American Cinema, I really wanted to shed a spotlight on a kind of modern family we rarely see onstage. Remy represents hundreds of LGBTQ parents, many raising children who aren’t biologically theirs, quite a few raising children who don’t even share their racial background. The love is still there, however. Along with it, the parenting fears. How do you prepare your child for a rapidly changing, sometimes volatile world; a world that may try and teach them to hate people like you? Will they grow to fight the monsters, or will they become a monster themselves?”. Told through dueting monologue and playful dialogue, “Monsters of the American Cinema” is a haunting and humorous tale about fathers and sons, ghosts, and the monsters we battle in the world and within ourselves. “Monsters of the American Cinema” was written by Christian St. Croix and saw its world premiere with Artswest (Seattle Playhouse) in February 2022.