Dearest John Miller Giltner,
Family Vacation started for me before I even entered The Trestle Inn. It truly started when I passed a tall, blue-haired pedestrian on Callowhill Street who smiled and said “hello.”
“This must be the manager of The Trestle Inn,” I thought to myself, “they have such a welcoming and amiable presence.” My suspicions were seemingly confirmed when this same stranger welcomed me and my party into the space and assured us that we would all be seated. It took an embarrassing amount of time for me to realize that this was not a kindly innkeep, but you, John Miller Giltner!
And yet I was still right in some ways. You were welcoming us to the metaphysical inn space of your life. Family Vacation felt like a YouTube video that I would watch alone in bed at some ungodly hour and sharply exhale through my nose throughout. I mean that in a very positive way, I love doing that. The secret sauce, however, was your infectious personality and ability to connect truthfully with a room full of bi 20-somethings. Your energy made that tiny space feel like a living room full of dear friends laughing at a PowerPoint party.
What stuck out to me in between raucous laughter was your emotional literacy. Like most queer people, I have spent a lot of time analyzing my straight family’s behavior and trying to get to the bottom of the bizarre things they sometimes say and do. You did this perfectly in your repeated assertion that Uncle Aaron’s knee pats were the only way he knew how to say “I love you.” Or how when Cousin Zack brought you to his room at 3:00 in the morning to show you his folded and hung clothes, he was really saying “Will you love and accept me?”
You perfectly summed up both the highs and the lows of being queer in a straight family. How it can be absurd and hilarious, and how it can be alienating and heartbreaking. I can’t wait to see more of your work, and I wish you luck next time you find yourself in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Go birds.
Congrats on the Switch 2.
Love,
PJ Witkowski
John Miller Giltner’s Family Vacation plays Sept 3rd-24th at the Trestle Inn.
PJ Witkowski performs in Artsake Theater Company’s Roadkill Bambi, playing Sept 6-27th at Sawubona Creativity Project.
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