A respectable effort to explore the plight of transsexuals that some might find more invigorating and exciting than others

On A Stool at the End of the Bar, a new play by Robert Callely, explores the ignorance and misunderstanding that one trans-woman faces in the 1980s. Chris McCullough (Antoinette Thornes) is a suburban woman who seems to have it all — a well-paying job, a hard-working and loving husband named Tony (Timothy John Smith), and three smart kids. The three kids, named Joey (Luke Slattery), Angie (Sara Kapner), and Mario (Zachary Brod), are actually Tony’s from a previous marriage, but they’ve accepted Chris as a second mother. However, as in most suburban family dramas, there’s a devastating secret that must come out — Chris’ brother Michael (John Stanici) has come to inform his sister that their parents have recently died, leaving her $97,000. The detail that will send all the characters into turmoil is the name on the check: “Christopher Eugene McCullough, AKA Christine McCullough”. We find out that Chris was born a man, and worked as a prostitute in order to afford a sex-change operation. This being the 1980s, when attitudes towards LGBT people weren’t nearly as accepting as they are today, the characters’ reaction to this news is less than thrilled.