Burn This

Burn This, like many of Wilson’s plays, deals with themes of gay identity and relationships. It begins shortly after the funeral of Robbie, a young gay dancer who drowned in a boating accident with his lover Dom. In attendance were Robbie’s roommates: his sensitive dance partner and choreographer, Anna, and confident gay ad man Larry. Soon joining them in Robbie’s lower-Manhattan loft are screenwriter Burton (Anna’s longtime lover), and Pale (Robbie’s coke-snorting, hyperactive restaurant manager brother). In the face of their shared tragedy, the quartet attempts to make sense of their lives and reconsider their own identities and relationships. Anna learns to be independent and self-confident; she pursues her interest in choreography and begins a relationship with Pale, breaking off her dispassionate relationship with her longtime boyfriend.