#1
Posted: 12/12/06 at 10:15am
I would have posted this article on the West End board, but I thought it was interesting as a New York theatergoer.
From The Guardian:
While it's right to bemoan the lack of new gay and lesbian plays, the key is to write queer theatre that's so good, artistic directors can't ignore it.
Where are all the gay comedies? wonders Michael Billington. Where are all the lesbians in theatre? laments Stella Duffy. But look a little more closely and there's room for rejoicing.
For one thing, Duffy doesn't mention the thriving queer performance art scene. Gay artists have been instrumental in the renaissance of Burlesque, and performers like Ursula Martinez, Amy Lame, Chris Green and Adrienne all know playing seductive, teasing games with gender is part of the appeal of theatre. Crossgender casting is on the rise, too, both at the Globe and in troupes such as Kneehigh and Cheek by Jowl, whose shows continue to enchant all audiences.
As Billington points out, Southwark Fair and Mother Clap's Molly House were both National Theatre hits. As I write, Summer Strallen is slapping her thigh as the principal boy in Mark Ravenhill's panto and a radical lesbian feminist is considering whether to tie the knot in The Marriage Bed.
This year has seen a retrospective of Martinez's theatre work, a revival of Bent, and plays by Christopher Shinn and Caryl Churchill, who's hardly shy when it comes to writing gay characters. A teenage girl found religion and came out in Crooked - possibly just to irk her mother. Emma Rice and Tom Morris' adaptation of Nights At The Circus portrayed a rapt lesbian romance. Beautiful Thing sold out and got pre-clubbing audiences whooping.
Read on...
Where are all the good gay plays?
From The Guardian:
While it's right to bemoan the lack of new gay and lesbian plays, the key is to write queer theatre that's so good, artistic directors can't ignore it.
Where are all the gay comedies? wonders Michael Billington. Where are all the lesbians in theatre? laments Stella Duffy. But look a little more closely and there's room for rejoicing.
For one thing, Duffy doesn't mention the thriving queer performance art scene. Gay artists have been instrumental in the renaissance of Burlesque, and performers like Ursula Martinez, Amy Lame, Chris Green and Adrienne all know playing seductive, teasing games with gender is part of the appeal of theatre. Crossgender casting is on the rise, too, both at the Globe and in troupes such as Kneehigh and Cheek by Jowl, whose shows continue to enchant all audiences.
As Billington points out, Southwark Fair and Mother Clap's Molly House were both National Theatre hits. As I write, Summer Strallen is slapping her thigh as the principal boy in Mark Ravenhill's panto and a radical lesbian feminist is considering whether to tie the knot in The Marriage Bed.
This year has seen a retrospective of Martinez's theatre work, a revival of Bent, and plays by Christopher Shinn and Caryl Churchill, who's hardly shy when it comes to writing gay characters. A teenage girl found religion and came out in Crooked - possibly just to irk her mother. Emma Rice and Tom Morris' adaptation of Nights At The Circus portrayed a rapt lesbian romance. Beautiful Thing sold out and got pre-clubbing audiences whooping.
Read on...
Where are all the good gay plays?
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Updated On: 12/12/06 at 10:15 AM
) 
Tsk, tsk. What now? You're all going to boycott all regular plays now? 
