[1] Jody, a gay man, owns a small map store on the oldest street in an American city, and is seemingly worldly and knowledgeable.
Carl, another gay man is a frequent visitor to the store, is a friend of Jody, and seems to lie a lot about his life and occupation.
Lonely Planet premiered at Northlight Theatre (with Russell Vandenbroucke as Artistic Director) in Evanston, Illinois in January 1993.
Reviewers praised Burton and McGrath's performances, saying they brought life and humour to the piece and carried the nuance and weight of the play well, results in an emotional touch that "sneaks up on you to devastating effect.
""But Mr. Dietz has something besides humor in mind (even if there is plenty of it) and that something — the weight of grief, the paralyzing fear of illness — emerges over the course of the show, like a photograph coming into focus in a dark room.
"[4]"Lonely Planet debuted in 1994, at the height of the AIDS crisis; its depiction of the plague years still hits hard.
As the two characters spar with each other, mostly through inspired put-downs and bon mots, McGrath expertly parries Burton’s superlative sardonic takes.