Each of us lives with an awareness of ourselves and of what is happening around us. Our perspectives are shaped by our own experiences, what we have learned, and the insights of others who provide answers to questions we do not yet understand. How important are the society and family in which we were raised? From these influences, we form our attitudes toward others.

The comedy Stepping Out into the Closet doesn’t aim to explain what it’s like to be different. Through humor and performance, the play explores how parents come to accept their child’s otherness. It is based on Laurent Ruquier’s play The Main Thing Is to Make Him Happy, which poses a powerful question: Is a child’s happiness more important to parents than the values ingrained in society?

This will be a guessing game—an imaginative exercise in which we’ll ask ourselves: How would we react if we were in our parents’ shoes? Stepping Out into the Closet is an attempt to spark a conversation that doesn’t split into two sides unwilling to listen. It will be a conversation that’s funny, sad, and difficult—one that reflects on society as a whole.