imeldasturn said: "quizking101 said: "imeldasturn said: "Oh yeah, absolutely, especially if we consider that pretty much most gay plays have a (generally unnecessary) nude scene."
Unnecessary is in the eyes of the beholder. Considering queer bodies have been shamed for many years and the most we used to get out of gay characters is the sassy asexual sidekick. Nowadays, queer theatre is beginning to embrace queer sexuality through sexual expression in the body more and more, and therefore might be seen as gratuitous because it was once not as commonplace"
Oh yeah, I'm sure the naked scenes in Afterglowand Skintight have been the best things to happen to the LGBTQ community since Harvey Milk. Not to mention that a lot of these scenes reinforce without critiquing some of the worst aspects of our community, like the morbid obsession for youth and ripped bodies."
Gay theatre served a very different purpose in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even into the mid 90s. I remember seeing gay theatre in the 80s on the "purple circuit." These were not only theatre events, but safe spaces. It was gay theatre written by gay voices and were as much activism as it was art. The nudity was political and unapologetic. Gay theatre companies were beacons for the LGBTQ community. The nudity was often unnecessary, but playful, fun, erotic and meant to be counter-culture. Gay people viewing gay bodies in a safe space to do so-where they could gaze without fear of attack or retribution. A very political act.
Gay theatre is a different beast now. "Straight" companies have tried to co-opt the very lucrative gay audiences and take their dollars by producing gay work. Many gay companies have shuttered as they operated on shoe string budgets and their mission was rooted in creating a gay community as much as producing gay theatre. That is less necessary now but its a loss. Shows like Afterglow were produced to sell nudity and make a buck. It didn't feel guided by what gay theatre used to be about.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello