Out Plays by Ben Hodges

Out Plays

Landmark Gay and Lesbian Plays of the Twentieth Century

Ben Hodges

There is no question about the contribution of the GLBT community to the world of drama. In the twentieth century the closet doors were flung open and gay drama moved center-stage. The old themes of suicide and loneliness are shared with those of oppression, suppression, love, fear, anger, horror and the joy of living. The themes are no longer unique to the GLBT community but they are universally human.

Included is the landmark play by Mart Crowley, “The Boys in the Band”, a look at the gay lifestyle which engenders great sympathy and shows how we had to live,

John L. Hopkin’s “Find Your way Home” and deals with a love triangle that questions homosexual involvement. Terrence McNally’s “The Ritz” is a wild and wacky look at a gay bathhouse and Albert Innaurato’s

“Gemini” deals with a young man discovering his sexuality. Jane Chambers gives us “Last Summer at Bluefish Cove’ is a contemporary lesbian drama and Lanford Wilson’s “Fifth of July” deals with a disabled gay man who is characterized as a person rather than labeled by his sexuality. “Torch Song Trilogy” by Harvey Fierstein has a drag queen as the central character. Finally there is Paula Vogel’s “The Baltimore Waltz is a play about AIDS written by a woman.

In the plays we see the role alienation played in the life of GLBT people and how playwrights reacted to it. Hurdles were overcome with the performances of the plays here and they provided for some really good theater. By seeing these plays or even just reading them, we can all be better people. ~ Amos Lassen


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Details

ISBN 978-0739493847
Genre Performing Arts
Publication Date 2008
Publisher Alyson Books
Format Hardcover
Language English
Rating NotRated
BookID 9483

Author: LFWBooks