How to Cheer and Boo - Your Essential Guide to Gay 90’s Melodrama

The 2026 Grinder summer season at the Ennotville Library kicks off with Dirty Deeds at Handlebar Dan's House of Old Wives (or how Sally Simple saved the Sarsaparilla Saloon) July 17th and 18th. Thanks to cast member Nick (aka our hero Joshua Jehosephat) for the poster:

I thought for this post we’d have some fun, and give you a quick primer on how to enjoy a Gay 90’s Melodrama. These kinds of plays are perfectly enjoyable just as they are, but they’re a lot more fun if you know a little bit about the conventions that shape the genre. So here we go!

First, by the term ‘’Gay 90’s’’ melodrama, we mean the 1890’s, and we mean gay in the sense of the term that it meant at that time: happy, silly, and carefree. No offense to anyone who thought it meant something else.

This is the "girl-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks" genre, in that there is almost invariably some reference to a train, a railroad, or a railway company of some sort. Some plays feature trains more than others.

Acting in a melodrama isn’t like acting in a straight play. Here, the actors are playing their roles big and ridiculous, completely and sincerely over-the-top. There’s no room for subtlety, and nothing is too crazy to be tried - I’ve seen actors play entire scenes standing on their heads! The closest analogy to melodramas that most people are familiar with are Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Sylvester, the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote - all fully melodramatic characters. 

Speaking of characters, there’s almost always a hero, and always at least one villain. The hero is dressed in white, the villain is dressed in black (there is a reason for that, but that’s a whole other blog post). Sometimes the hero or the villain or both will have some sort of sidekick. Often the real hero ends up being not the white-clad macho-man, but a rather sensible young woman whose quick thinking and honest intentions save the day.

And speaking of women, there is, almost always a sensible young heroine who manages to catch the eye of the hero, usually through little effort of her own. There is often a French Maid, for some reason, who is usually flirtatious, and spends her time chasing after one or all of the male characters. Another common character is the ‘’fallen’’ woman, someone who has made some mistakes in her life (usually involving a romantic fling with the villain). She may be tempted to rejoin the villain and help him carry out his evil scheme, but she has a change of heart and is rehabilitated by the end of the play. 

Now there’s one other… ahem… lady we should mention - the dame. Though not in every melodrama, it’s not uncommon for one or more female characters to be played by men, especially when the role calls for a character who is supposed to be ugly, or portly, or both. This casting tradition borrows from the English Panto, where men took on these kinds of roles and played them for laughs when women became increasingly unwilling to do so. 

Finally there’s you, the audience! The audience in a melodrama isn’t supposed to be well-behaved, like in a normal play. In this type of show it’s perfectly acceptable, even strongly encouraged, to cheer whenever the hero walks on stage. It’s even more appropriate to boo for the villain - the louder you boo, the better. You can yell out ‘’he’s behind you!’’ if someone is sneaking up behind someone else, you can whistle when the dame bats an eyelash at you, the sky is really the limit.   

So now you know - enjoy the show! Hope to see you there! Reserve your tickets through any cast member.