Avow has been performed by: Scott Ferrara Christina Haag Jane Powell Michael Rupert Christopher Sieber Rosemary Prinz Marge Redmond Richard Cox Wayne Maugans Published by: Dramatists Play Service

In French the play is titled - Parcours - (Journeys) - and In German the title is Bekenntnisse (Confessions.)

Brian and Tom want to be married in the church. They are Catholic – that is what shaped, inspired and damaged them. Tom increasingly takes to heart the official teaching of the church and responds to personal pressure from their much admired priest, Fr. Raymond. Brian wants to shape the thing that has shaped him. Tom is haunted by the virtue of obedience. There are five separate spiritual journeys that result from Brian and Tom’s request. There is a synopsis of the play at www.dramatists.com

I wrote the first draft of Avow in 1994. It had a production at the George Street Playhouse in 1996 with Gillian Lynne directing. Gillian is smart and loving - she understands human beings and she brings that understanding to their lives on the stage. It then had a workshop production at the Director’s Company in New York City in 1998. There were also a few readings with Michael Lindsay-Hogg directing, who was intending to direct the play in New York, but the timing was not in the cards. Avow was finally done off-Broadway at the Century Theatre Center in the summer of 2000. The play has been produced around the country - and is in the process of being revived in New York in 2007.

What is essential for all future productions of the play is that there be three separate playing areas for the three opposing and interacting universes on stage. These areas can break down as the action progresses but the distances conquered need to be earned. Although Avow has the hook of gay marriage, it's best in production and promotion to focus on the universal themes and dilemmas of faith, commitment, human sexuality, obedience and family.

(Note to theatres: Once you've made arrangements with Dramatist Play Service, get in touch with this site through e-mail and a slightly revised script will be sent to you in a pdf file.)

New York Times: "Timely and Provocative"

NYTheater.com: Martin Denton "AVOW is all about vows and avowing: it's about finding balance in a maze of promises and confessions and assertions, made to oneself and to one's God. Bill C. Davis pushes us squarely in the center of a lively and provocative debate about the most fundamental and essential questions that human beings face. Davis wisely steps backs from his characters, seldom judging them.; instead giving them all vitality and dimension so that we care about and come to understand each one. AVOW contains plenty of lively theological debate, but it's first and foremost a rich and complex human drama. And lest you think that AVOW is deadly serious, let me add that there is also a good deal of genuine humor in this play."

Newsday: Gordon Cox "New plays like AVOW that deal seriously with contemporary religion are rare these days. Davis asks real questions here that will provoke skepticism, frustration and even anger in some audience members. This fearless provocation is one of the play's greatest merits."

LGNY: Christopher Byrne "AVOW is a warm, insightful and balanced meditation about who we are in relationship to the vows we make and to the people and organizations in our lives. It is also, at times, screamingly funny. AVOW is one of the most welcome theatrical offerings of the summer."

Entertainment Weekly: Melissa Rose Bernardo "Romantics and Roman Catholics alike will get a kick out of the latest drama from Bill C. Davis"

The Advocate: Don Shewey "In the new Off-Broadway comedy AVOW, two gay Catholics who want to marry ask their baby-boomer priest to perform the ceremony. What follows is an unusually sophisticated discussion of the Christian virtue of faith."

Show Business Weekly: Christine Sparta "AVOW, Bill C. Davis' delicious and delightful new comedy, draws you in and makes you want to listen closely as it turns religious dogma on its ear. The play speaks to the human experience as it tackles meaty and often controversial subjects like gay marriage and the degree religious litany should define one's choices in life.…I couldn't wait for intermission to end to see how it would unfold. I came to care about these characters and root for them. AVOW is definitely a wow."

Next Magazine: Robert Kent "In AVOW, Bill C. Davis has created a thought-provoking, compelling and often humorous play. It is touching and surprisingly realistic. AVOW challenges the balance of spirituality and sexuality. Wisely, not all of the AVOW's questions are answered. However, during the production's most sincere moments, its message is clear: Hell is not the absence of God, it is the absence of love. Explain that to the church-and Dr. Laura!"

TheaterMania.com: Summer in the City by Barbara and Scott Siegel "Bill C. Davis' AVOW is a well constructed play in which every action has a reaction. AVOW presents a theological dialogue with a sense of humor-and that just might be a miracle."

TheaterMania.com: Ricky Spears "Right off the bat in AVOW, a new play written by Bill C. Davis, you get one hell of a triangle of love versus sexuality versus church. .AVOW will set your mind whirling. It's a throwback to those matinee shows of yesteryear that used to fill theaters in New York; shows that made you think and laugh at the same time."

CurtainUp.com: Les Gutman "A screwball story line that pirouettes through minefields so adroitly, we have to wonder where and when its playwright, Bill C. Davis, acquired so much grace. It is also very funny, a result it achieves without trivializing passions or beliefs on either side of its many arguments."

Susan Granger's review of "AVOW" "As relevant and thought-provoking as today's headlines, Bill C. Davis's new comedy "Avow" tackles virtually every major issue confronting the Catholic Church today. Tom and Brian are homosexual lovers who want their priest to witness their marriage vows. Admittedly, they're "salad bar" Catholics, explaining "We take what we think will nourish us, and we leave the rest alone." But when their priest refuses to sanction their union and urges celibacy, they're devastated - not only because they want to formally commit to each other but also because Brian's sister Irene, a lapsed Catholic, is expecting an illegitimate child whom they want to adopt. Furious, Irene goes to the Rectory to confront the priest and discovers, to both their chagrin, that sparks of sexual chemistry ignite. Meanwhile, Brian and Irene are dealing with their mother who has seemingly refused to accept either her gay son or unmarried, pregnant daughter. Playwright Bill C. Davis cleverly, sensitively and objectively delineate each character's strengths and weaknesses, making them multi-faceted, giving them room to grow and change during the course of the screwball action. Fortunately, no one falls into stereotypes, so they're all more or less sympathetic as they voice opposing viewpoints and religious convictions. It's too glib to call this a Catholic play or a gay play; instead, it's a relationship play, a real crowd-pleaser."