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Synopsis
In 1973 New Orleans, on the sweltering night a fire tears through the Upstairs Lounge, killing thirty-two men, nineteen-year-old nursing student Sydney “Syd” Trahan is arrested for dancing at a nearby lesbian bar, an act that detonates long-simmering tensions within her devout, working-class family. As her father, Bud, basks in public praise for a professional honor and her mother, Helen, struggles to reconcile faith, reputation, and maternal fear, their neighbors Beau and Beverly Larson confront the consequences of their own cruelty toward their gay son, Roscoe, now among the dead. Over the course of two harrowing days, secrets surface, hypocrisies are exposed, and private reckonings unfold against a backdrop of religious fervor and communal tragedy. SYD is a searing domestic drama about shame, complicity, and the cost of survival in a world that mistakes intolerance for righteousness.
Inspiration Set
Playwright Note
Many of my plays center on multifaceted American women: shrewd, resourceful, determined, comic, resilient, empathetic, fearless, and unconventional. Syd is no exception. She is young, yes, but she is also perceptive and unwilling to contort herself to fit expectations that feel false or suffocating.
Historically, women were required to adhere to prescribed behaviors, roles, and moral codes. Yet across centuries – and certainly by the nineteenth and twentieth – women pushed back. Sometimes quietly, sometimes defiantly, and by the 1960s, in greater numbers and with greater visibility. Syd lives at the tail end of that seismic shift, when liberation movements were reshaping the country but had not yet reached every kitchen table.
In researching early 1970s New Orleans and its queer community, I was devastated to learn of the June 24, 1973, arson attack at the Upstairs Lounge on Iberville Street, where thirty-two men lost their lives. That tragedy – at the time the deadliest known attack on a gay bar in U.S. history – forms the ominous backdrop of this play.
In Syd , that public catastrophe collides with private reckoning: a nineteen-year-old nursing student is arrested for dancing at a nearby lesbian bar while, just blocks away, a sanctuary burns. The fire exposes more than smoke and ash; it reveals fear, hypocrisy, grief, and the quiet costs of intolerance within families and communities.
Syd is not a political manifesto or a theological argument. It is an intimate story about people trying to reconcile love and belief, reputation and truth, control and compassion. These characters bend – sometimes they break – but they are not caricatures. They are flawed, devout, frightened, proud, hopeful. They are human.
Finally, this play would not exist without Diana Smith, whom I met in the summer of 2019. A firecracker with a generous heart and sharp humor, she shared a story that startled and moved me in equal measure. That story became the spine of this play. Syd is, in many ways, my attempt to honor the courage it takes to tell the truth, especially when the world insists on silence.
Historically, women were required to adhere to prescribed behaviors, roles, and moral codes. Yet across centuries – and certainly by the nineteenth and twentieth – women pushed back. Sometimes quietly, sometimes defiantly, and by the 1960s, in greater numbers and with greater visibility. Syd lives at the tail end of that seismic shift, when liberation movements were reshaping the country but had not yet reached every kitchen table.
In researching early 1970s New Orleans and its queer community, I was devastated to learn of the June 24, 1973, arson attack at the Upstairs Lounge on Iberville Street, where thirty-two men lost their lives. That tragedy – at the time the deadliest known attack on a gay bar in U.S. history – forms the ominous backdrop of this play.
In Syd , that public catastrophe collides with private reckoning: a nineteen-year-old nursing student is arrested for dancing at a nearby lesbian bar while, just blocks away, a sanctuary burns. The fire exposes more than smoke and ash; it reveals fear, hypocrisy, grief, and the quiet costs of intolerance within families and communities.
Syd is not a political manifesto or a theological argument. It is an intimate story about people trying to reconcile love and belief, reputation and truth, control and compassion. These characters bend – sometimes they break – but they are not caricatures. They are flawed, devout, frightened, proud, hopeful. They are human.
Finally, this play would not exist without Diana Smith, whom I met in the summer of 2019. A firecracker with a generous heart and sharp humor, she shared a story that startled and moved me in equal measure. That story became the spine of this play. Syd is, in many ways, my attempt to honor the courage it takes to tell the truth, especially when the world insists on silence.
Production History
SYD was originally produced by Lab Theater Project (Tampa, FL) opening on Friday, February 22nd, 2024 and closing on Sunday, March 10th, 2024. Directed by Owen Robertson, the cast featured Mandy Keen as Sydney "Syd" Trahan, Tiffany Faykus as Helen Trahan, James Skinner as Robert "Bud" Trahan, Isabel Bertram as Beverly Larson, and John D. Hooper as Beauregard "Beau" Larson.
Development History
SYD received a public development reading as part of Lab Theater Project's 2023 Summer Concert Readings. The cast featured Heather Cole as Helen Trahan, Nathan Juliano as Bud Trahan, CC Ventura as Sydney Trahan, Katie Calahan as Beverly Larson, and Larry Corwin as Beau Larson.
Awards/Recognition
Tiffany Faykus received a Best Performer nomination for her portrayal of Helen Trahan in LAB Theater Project's production of SYD. -BroadwayWorld Tampa 2024.
Reviews/Recommendations
"From the “good things come in small packages” file, an incisive, emotional script, an engaging and committed cast and brisk, clear direction make SYD, the new show at Ybor City’s tiny LAB Theatre Project, a major accomplishment." - Bill DeYoung, The St. Pete Catalyst
“It’s a slow burn, with a great act one/into act two question and a perfect closing image. I loved every word of this piece.”
“The characters are written with humor, salt, specificity, and empathy. A compassionate and thoughtful work.”
“The greatest strength of the piece lies in Houk’s sure-footed characterizations of the main players.”
“Houk pulls you in with the complexity and strength of the characters. A truly compelling and heart-breaking story.”
“Syd is a play, a character, and perhaps a warning. Lush dialogue and dialect place this play in a New Orleans of the not-so-distant past and raise familiar issues of family and acceptance. An important story, very well told.”
"With a nod to William Inge and Horton Foote, Craig Houk's "Syd" is a theatrical treasure of drama, social commentary and vivid storytelling."
"Houk expertly renders the regional dialect while giving each character a believable individual voice within it. Family tensions and affections feel complex and real. Some of the characters make disturbing choices, while others rise to the challenges with unexpected grace, and it’s all written with compassion and insight."
“It’s a slow burn, with a great act one/into act two question and a perfect closing image. I loved every word of this piece.”
“The characters are written with humor, salt, specificity, and empathy. A compassionate and thoughtful work.”
“The greatest strength of the piece lies in Houk’s sure-footed characterizations of the main players.”
“Houk pulls you in with the complexity and strength of the characters. A truly compelling and heart-breaking story.”
“Syd is a play, a character, and perhaps a warning. Lush dialogue and dialect place this play in a New Orleans of the not-so-distant past and raise familiar issues of family and acceptance. An important story, very well told.”
"With a nod to William Inge and Horton Foote, Craig Houk's "Syd" is a theatrical treasure of drama, social commentary and vivid storytelling."
"Houk expertly renders the regional dialect while giving each character a believable individual voice within it. Family tensions and affections feel complex and real. Some of the characters make disturbing choices, while others rise to the challenges with unexpected grace, and it’s all written with compassion and insight."
LAB Theater Project (Tampa, FL/Ybor City - 2024)
REMINDER: No presentation or production of SYD, in whole or in part, is allowed unless permission is granted by the playwright or his designated agents.