Put four friends from high school, each with different views and beliefs, in a Chicago hotel room on the eve of a conference for gay Christians, and you’ve got a setup for excitement.

Think about the concepts. Christianity. Homosexuality. A guarantee for protests and sign carrying and slurs hurled at the conference participants. Think of the big questions. Does God love me? Do I love God? Can we have it both ways? And how about the four of us? What’s become of us?

That’s the conceit of "Starlings," the world premiere by Milwaukee’s own Ben Parman, that opened Thursday night at Soulstice Theatre.

The play – full of good humor – tackled the questions, tackled the answers and wrapped the whole thing up in a night of great chuckles and laughs and a night left wanting to know what it was really all about.

Neal (Parman), Matt (Claudio Parrone Jr.), Kelly (Shannon Nettesheim) and Ethan (David Sapiro) are all at the conference. The room belonging to Matt and Neal is their headquarters before the meetings get going.

Neal is a gangly effeminate gay guy. Matt, his former lover, is a muscular and masculine gay guy. Kelly, who is married to Ethan, was Matt’s girlfriend in college, but they broke up when Matt became concerned about "sexual identity."

The first act of the play is the setup, when we get to meet the characters and kind of find out what they are all about. It wasn't too long, however, until I began to think of this whole thing as a comedy sketch put together for a showcase for local comedians and sponsored by Comedy Sportz.

At one point in the play Neal says, "Language has to convey content." No truer words were ever spoken and that was the big problem with the first act of the play. The repartee was constructed to set up laughs, and it did. The problem for me was it didn’t come close to making these people seem genuine.

It was as if I was watching a video game where the contestants were trying to see who could say the most words in the shortest amount of time. Funny? Very much so at frequent intervals. Some of it is very, very funny. Parman obviously has a gift for the quip and the back and forth of the Marx brothers.

But this is a very ambitious play, and it could use more workshopping to allow the audience inside to a real situation, not a skit on "Saturday Night Live."

One of the most telling signs the script needed more work were the long, long speeches given by various characters while one or the other characters sat or stood around listening. I understand why a playwright would do this, since it’s an easy way to tell an audience what a character is like and what he or she believes. 

But there is an axiom in the theater that says, "Don’t tell me, show me." Otherwise it’s just a series of speeches that say, "Here’s what I am, now let’s get back to the play."

I don’t want my criticism of this play to be misconstrued. The various messages of loneliness, faith, sexuality and loyalty are explored with sensitivity and with a series of unique voices. These are important subjects for discussion, or for drama, and humor has long been an accepted method for serious exploration.

Director Erin Nicole Eggers did a smooth job of helping a wonderful cast of actors make this hotel room come alive, but she needed to find a way to slow things down. Timing is a critical element in comedy, but that doesn’t mean speeding and jumping on each other’s lines.

Parman’s play is one of the best I’ve ever seen by a local playwright, but it also seems a little like it was rushed to the stage. Just as patience is required by actors, it is also true of plays.

"Starlings" runs through Jan. 30; information on showtimes and tickets are available here.

Production Credits: Director, Erin Nicole Eggers; Stage Manager, Robb T. Preston; Set Design, Dan Parman; Sound Design, Therese Goode; Graphic Design, Kristie Goode.