Though ["Hosanna"] goes over homosexual materials with which we are twice too familiar, and while it tells more than it shows, the play creates a fully believable character in an emotional situation that changes his life before us. That, I believe, is a major element of high drama.

"Hosanna" takes place just after its title character has been humiliated, which naturally sets it up to reveal the humiliation two hours later. I am not about to tell you exactly what it was and that's just as well since the event itself is a letdown. But between these two factors, Tremblay tells the story of a self-contemptuous drag queen who is tortured by his own wits and perceptions. He knows just how ridiculous he looks in drag, knows just how stupid the queens around him are, knows the degradation and vulgarity about him. He masochistically wallows in it. He...