Wednesday, February 24, 2010
New Gay Theater Is More About Love Stories Than Politics
NYTimes.com: "A new breed of plays and musicals this season is presenting gay characters in love stories, replacing the direct political messages of 1980s and ‘90s shows like “The Normal Heart” and “Angels in America” with more personal appeals for social progress."
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5 comments:
I found this article very interesting, and somewhat contradictory to the comments in last week's article about the "Gay Theater". Last week, there was specific focus placed on Next Fall's poster (simply a red leaf) and how some interpreted it as attempting to bury the gay relationship aspect of the show, while this article seems to argue that shows are not specifically pointing out the relationship because they want to assert that the relationships shown are no different than their heterosexual counterparts elsewhere.
I have a distinct contention with this article, though - it speaks of "gay and lesbian" theatre, but we have no representations of lesbian relationships in this season (nor, can I think of a single play offhand that deals with a lesbian relationship). I wonder if there is a bigger issue here now - at the point that male homosexual relationships are accepted into the fold of theatrical performance, where are the women?
Brian, don't fear, there are plays that deal with lesbian relationships, albeit there are fewer; Stop Kiss is one example, and how about Rent?
I agree with this article. I feel that gay and lesbian relationships within plays should not always be about the politics. Why not focus on conflict besides society? I still think that these politically motivated plays should exist, but I think that plays that don't focus on politics are making the same statement. In order for change to be made and social equality and respect, the majority needs to understand that gays and lesbians are no different, and neither are their relationships. If people can relate to a same-sex couple, or even just a gay or lesbian character, I think that's a very important step in itself for society. Get 'em subconsciously if you have to.
I really like the quote about gay theater attracting more gay and straight audiences alike if they focus on common and universal emotions like love, loss, etc. This kind of reminds me of the article that was up last week about theater revolving a lot around falling in love. It stated that if another species came to our world and observed our theater and entertainment like movies and televisions, they would assume that our primary function in life, what our lives revolved around was falling in love and heartache, blah blah. But i think that that's kind of great, everyone falls in love and its one of the most universal characteristics, humanity and our ability to love, so its impossible to avoid that in theater.
It's about time! "Gay plays" can be the same as straight plays! No one calls a play with a straight romantic couple a straight play, so there is no reason to call it a gay play either. This is a part of life in the same way. I'm glad that the gay romance is no longer the focus that the entire play is centered around. It's nice that people are finally accepting this as just a part of life, instead of the main focus of life. People aren't "gay people" they're people who are gay. There is a distinct difference. I stayed for the talk back after Alice, and one man actually said he didn't like that they made this a "gay play" and said that the comedy just doesn't work if the man is gay. (None of the comedy was centered around anything that would have to do with this.) It's just frustrating that people are so close minded, but I'm glad that we're finally moving away from this!
I totally agree with Ariel. I am so glad to see that gay characters are developing into more than political catalysts. I think it is very true that you can show and discuss many of the same issues without writing a play all about politics. I do agree with Brian however, there seems to be a lack of gay women's stories. But I think that may have to do with the lack of female writers that has come up on this blog before. I'm sure we will only see this trend grow in the future which I think is great. Especially considering how many people involved with theater are gay it is nice to finally some of their own stories represented.
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