Forbidden!
U.S. Premiere at the Foundry Near Ft. Lauderdale
By: Aaron Krause - Sep 02, 2026
Nearly a century ago, in the Netherlands, it was censored and almost lost to history. Today, more than 100 years later, it is playing on a South Florida stage to appreciative audiences. More specifically, Plays of Wilton (POW) is giving Forbidden! (originally titled Wat Niet Mag!, Dutch for Mustn’t Do It!) its American premiere.
Forbidden!, which is running in the intimate Foundry in Wilton Manors through Sept. 27, is a Dutch play from 1922 that closed after just two performances in Rotterdam because it was considered too progressive for its time. After its original two-performance run, the play was largely forgotten for generations before theater historian and scholar Laurence Senelick rediscovered and translated it into English in 2010. POW is presenting Senelick’s translated version.
Many scholars regard the piece as the world’s first coming out play – and the first to place an openly gay leading character center stage, declaring that homosexuality is natural and should not be criminalized. What particularly distinguishes the play from earlier dramatic treatments of homosexuality is that the central character comes out to his family as an act of self-realization. Earlier plays involving gay characters often had them exposed or “outed.”
Forbidden!’s characters include Walter, a young man who considers his sexual orientation natural, innate, and an inborn condition. He struggles to “come out” to his loving but moralist mother, Marie, and her unhappy husband (and Walter’s father), Gerard. Other characters are Walter’s independent-minded sister, Lisa, and her fiancé, Charles.
Larsen directs a fine cast with precision and sensitivity. At times, physical distance suggests emotional detachment, while romantic scenes unfold with sincere passion. Conversely, tense scenes brim with heat. At least once, you fear that Walter and his father will physically fight each other. Movement consistently feels purposeful, and the production’s use of classical music enhances the production’s drama and lends a sophistication to this play about an upper-middle-class family. The final scene, when Marie is left alone, sobbing, is heartbreaking. The decision not to include an intermission works; the dramatic momentum never sags as the action seamlessly moves between tension, tenderness, playfulness, and melancholy. The running time is about 90 minutes.
The versatile Alex Martinez believably portrays Walter as an annoyed, guarded young man ahead of his time and clearly not on good terms with his parents. His physical distance from them (at times he stands apart from them and doesn’t face them) could represent his emotional estrangement from them. Martinez’s Walter looks uncomfortable and unhappy in his own home. In fact, at least once he moves to an open doorway and remains there, suggesting, perhaps, that he wants to leave. Martinez’s assertive Walter rolls his eyes, sounds unenthusiastic, yells, and unashamedly declares his sexual orientation.
“It was born in me,” he says, placing his hand on his chest.
Martinez, who wisely avoids gay male stereotypes, also touchingly conveys his character’s vulnerability. Toward the end, he kneels by his mother, and with desperation in his voice, begs her to let him leave. Then, he gains a quiet strength, reassuring her that he will be fine elsewhere. In scenes between Walter and Charles, the pair speak confidentially to each other, as though speaking louder will make others hear them. As though they were knee-jerk impulses, the two young men hug each other tightly, at least twice, reinforcing their closeness. While he can seem irritated, Martinez makes his character sincere and sympathetic as well, which makes it easy to pull for him.
Sara Grant movingly plays Walter’s mother, Marie, as a sensitive woman who is deeply concerned about her son’s “unnatural” closeness to his male friend. We hear her worry in her high-pitched voice that nearly breaks as she expresses her intense concern, bordering on anguish. At one point, she takes her son’s hands and urges him to fight against his nature. At another moment, she kneels by her son and takes his hand. At times, she seems overwhelmed. Once, she places her hands over her ears, as though she can’t bear to hear what’s coming. Another time, she rushes offstage as though she’s about to vomit.
To her credit, Grant also shows a more relaxed, loving side to Marie, as when she massages her son’s shoulders and slow dances with her husband as Walter plays piano. She also tenderly hugs Walter. One of Grant’s most affecting moments appears at the end. She is alone, her son having left her house (and quite possibly the town) for good, and her husband is out with the couple’s daughter. We hear her sobbing, as she slowly pours coffee or tea for herself. It didn’t have to end this way; prejudice and fear of the unknown can wreck lives, as the play illustrates.
Gerard can be a difficult character to care about, but veteran and versatile actor Seth Trucks finds his humanity as well as his toughness. Early on, his voice betrays a mixture of casualness and boredom as he notes that there’s nothing new in the newspaper. You also sense a tinge of irritability in Trucks’ Gerard, as though he’s frustrated that life has become dull to him. He scoffs at activities such as playing the piano and reading, as though engaging in such hobbies somehow makes you weak and less manly.
As Trucks portrays him, Gerard can come across as a disciplinarian with a vicious temper (you want to cover your ears when he thunderously shouts at his son). But then you hear his broken voice as Gerard, clearly shaken, worries about his role in the family and whether he matters. As Trucks embodies him, Gerard at first unapologetically dismisses his son’s orientation. However, Gerard sounds reasonably convinced that it’s not a bad thing after he talks to the family’s doctor about Walter.
Nicole Hulett, an Australian actor convincingly sounding American, believably imbues Walter’s sister, Lisa, with an independent air, a romantic streak, and her eventual disappointment when her relationship with Charles doesn’t work out. In the beginning, she runs to Charles and they passionately embrace. In addition, a playfully endearing moment unfolds between Lisa and Walter, but moments of tension also play out between the siblings.
Chad Raven succeeds in a supporting role, playing Lisa’s fiancé, who serves as the catalyst for Walter’s parents’ suspicions. Like Hulett, Raven finds the eagerness and romantic spark in his character, and also makes us question his true nature. He hugs Lisa and Walter with equal passion. Is he bisexual? Is he just pretending to be Lisa’s fiancé to redirect Gerard and Marie’s focus? Raven is also believable later in the play as a vulnerable young man with low self-esteem.
Just as the acting is strong, behind-the-scenes artists do their part to bring the play to life.
Jeff Walters’ set design of the family’s upper-middle class home is surprisingly spare -- a dark green wall as a backdrop, lighter-colored chairs, a table, a brown floor, a piano, and a small staircase. Mostly, the spacious, orderly, minimal set design allows us to concentrate on the performances and action rather than on a period-specific set that calls too much attention to itself. Still, one might wish for a family picture or two as something personal for this family.
Preston Bircher’s realistic lighting switches between bright illumination and more subdued lighting, which is appropriate for a realistic play.
More than a century after its extremely short-lived production in Rotterdam, Forbidden! remains a remarkably relevant play tackling themes such as queer identity, the constraints of upper-middle class family expectations, and the battle against deep-seated prejudice. It’s not just another “coming out” piece, but a timely and timeless tug-of-war between being true to oneself and conforming to family and society’s expectations of what one should be. The play seems to encourage adherence to Shakespeare’s famous advice, “To thine own self be true.” Forbidden! also exposes how fragile relationships can be amid such smothering expectations.
Kudos are due Larsen for finding a once-forgotten yet important play, bringing it to South Florida, and allowing audiences to experience its surprising relevance and pathos more than a century after it was almost lost to history. In that sense, POW’s moving production marks a milestone in theater history as the American premiere of Forbidden! True, some of it seems dated (Gerard referring to his wife as “Woman” sounds out of place in 2026.) But Forbidden! can remind us not only how far we’ve come as a society in ensuring equality, but how much work remains. When troubling parallels exist between the 1920s and modern times, you know unfinished business awaits. Unquestionably, staging Forbidden! marks a step in the right direction.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: The American premiere of Forbidden! by POW
WHEN: Through Sept. 27
WHERE: The Foundry, 2306 N Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors.
TICKETS: Visit https://www.playsofwilton.com or call (954) 826-8790