Gay Plays, Gay Theatre, Gay Performance

Author(s): Terry Helbing

Source: The Drama Review: TDR , Mar., 1981, Vol. 25, No. 1, Sex and Performance Issue
(Mar., 1981), pp. 35-46
Published by: The MIT Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1145342

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 |r|r
jj Gay
jj Plays,
Gay Plays,

I .ii
g1

| - Gay Performance

theatre-stems from two events that occurred in the late 1960s: the premiere of Mart
Crowley's The Boys In the Band in 1968 and the riots by transvestites and street people
in 1969 at Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn, now commemorated as the birth of the
contemporary gay political movement. After these events, gay characters and gay sub-
ject matter appealred onstage with greater frequency and more openly1than ever before
in theatre history .

|ay Playsrry H
Most often, gay theatre history is a literary history-playwrights, whatever t
sexual preference, have included homosexual characters or subject matter i
works. Due to thelandestine natun e of the subject atter, many of these plays ar
icutn toocat G raveenw Vllage's Stonewall Innvr, now bommemorated as the birth
exual preference secret, or because "authorities"aw tese etroysuch "obscen
tmaterial whenever possible.r f a

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 Two landmark gay plays,
- ^ 0000t ^%0 first performed at the Caffe
'- r"; 0 Cino in 1964: (top) Lanford
1 ^C^ Wilson's The Madness of
IKa~ ^_~ 'Lady Bright with Neil
I iFlanagan; and Rober
Patrick's The Haunted Host
with Robert Patrick (left
and William M. Hoffman,
directed by Marshall W.
.-. - ... Mason.

References to gay people occur as early as ancient Greek plays

known play with a homosexual in a major role is Marlowe's 1591
14th-century English king. In a collection of plays published in 18
cluded one gay play, At Saint Judas's, about a bridegroom wh
man's love for him moments before his wedding.
Ronald Firbank's 1920 play, The Princess Zoubaroff, has two newly-married
couples realigning homosexually, and, also in the 1920s, Mae West included gay
characters in The Drag (1927) and The Pleasure Man (1928), subject matter that con-
tributed in part to her difficulties with censorship and the police. Edouard Bourdet's
lesbian play, The Captive (1926), had similar problems when it moved from Paris to New
York.
In the 1930s, gay people began appearing in the commercial theatre in plays like
Ronald MacKenzie's Musical Chairs, first performed in London in 1931, Mordaunt
Shairp's The Green Bay Tree (1932) and Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour (1934).
American playwrights of the next three decades used gay characters and themes
with increasing regularity. Although Tennessee Williams has yet to write a gay
play- Vieux Carre comes closest-his guarded allusions to homosexuality in his most
famous plays helped break ground for other playwrights. These plays have fallen prey
to some criticism from those who feel his tragic heroines are really gay men in disguise.
Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? often suffers the same interpretation
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Harvey
Harvey Fierstein's
Fierstein'sFugue
FugueIn In
a Nursery
a Nursery
(1980);
(1980);
Fierstein,
Fierstein,
second
second
from
from right.
right.

(T19),
(T19), as
asififan
anauthor's
author'sknown
known or or
suspected
suspected
sexual
sexual
preference
preference
was the
wasonly
thebasis
onlyforbasis
his for his
writing.
writing.MostMostofofthethe
other
other playwrights
playwrightsof the
of the
periodperiod
treated
treated
gay people
gay people
as stereotypes,
as stereotypes,
reflecting
reflectingthe thetime
timewhen
when they
they were
were
writing:
writing:
Robert
Robert
Anderson's
Anderson's
Tea and
TeaSympathy
and Sympathy
(1953),
(1953), William
WilliamInge's
Inge'sThe
TheBoyBoyIn In
thethe
Basement
Basement
(1962)(1962)
and Natural
and Natural
Affection
Affection
(1963) and
(1963) and
Frank
Frank Marcus'
Marcus'The TheKilling
Killingof of
Sister
Sister
George
George
(1965)
(1965)
are some
are some
examples.
examples.
In
In the
the late
late1950s
1950sandandinto
intothethe
1960s,
1960s,
thethe
rapidly
rapidly
growing
growing
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadwaymove- move-
ment
ment helped
helpednurture
nurture thethe
development
development of gay
of gay
theatre.
theatre.
Joe Cino's
Joe Cino's
Caffe Caffe
Cino provided
Cino provided
an an
atmosphere
atmospherefor forplaywrights
playwrights to to
experiment
experimentwithwith
any any
subject
subject
matter
matter
they chose
they tochose
pur-to pur-
sue.
sue. Two
Twolandmarks
landmarksofofgay
gay
theatre
theatre
were
were
first
first
performed
performed
therethere
in 1964-Lanford
in 1964-Lanford
Wilson's
Wilson'sThe
TheMadness
Madnessofof
Lady
Lady
Bright
Bright
andand
Robert
Robert
Patrick's
Patrick's
The Haunted
The Haunted
Host. Doric
Host. Doric
Wilson,
Wilson, William
WilliamM.M.Hoffman
Hoffmanandand
other
other
gay gay
playwrights
playwrights
worked
worked
at theat
Cino.
the Cino.
After
After aa workshop
workshopproduction
productionat the
at the
Barr-Wilder-Albee
Barr-Wilder-Albee
Playwrights
Playwrights
Unit, Mart
Unit, Mart
Crowley's
Crowley'sThe
TheBoys
BoysInIn
the
the
Band
Band
opened
opened
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
in 1968,
in 1968,
eventually
eventually
running
running
more more
than 1,000 performances. Audiences-including gay people-were able to see gay
characters portrayed openly onstage, although soon after its premiere and as a result of
the Stonewall riots, many gay people would feel that they were being portrayed in too
much of a stereotypical, "politically incorrect" manner. However, the commercial suc-
cess of the play meant that plays with gay characters or themes began to appear much
more frequently. Some playwrights cashed in on the "freak show" aspect of the new
subject matter, while others attempted to write sensitive, well-written plays with gay
people. The plays that were produced after The Boys In the Band were of all dramatic
types: Broadway and off-Broadway comedies (Terrence McNally's The Ritz, James
Kirkwood's P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!, Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick's Norman Is That You?,
Harvey Fierstein's The International Stud and Fugue In a Nursery), serious drama (John
Hopkins' Find Your Way Home, John Herbert's Fortune and Men's Eyes, Martin
Sherman's Bent, Michel Tremblay's Hosanna), "sexploitation" plays (Boys, Boys, Boys;

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 Jonathan Katz's
Coming Out!, 1972.
A. J. Kronengold's Tubstrip and Hustlers), political plays (Jonathan Katz's Com
Out!) and musicals (Al Carmines' The Faggot, Bill Solly and Donald Ward's Boy Meets
Boy, Bill Russell and Ronald Melrose's Fourtune).
Most of the gay plays written in the 1970s can be divided into several categorie
The central theme of most of these plays is a gay relationship-sometimes it is two
men who are lovers and are living together, sometimes two gay men who are only roo
mates-but gay playwrights are usually concerned with the ways gay men find to d
with each other without resorting to conventional heterosexual role models. A subd
sion of the "relationship" plays is the "old/young" plays that describe the difficult
encountered in relationships between men who are of significantly different a
Many gays object to the emphasis placed on youth and beauty in the gay male sub-
culture, and these plays reflect that opinion.
"Coming out" plays are as important now as they were at the time of the Stonew
riots. The recent political emphasis on conservatism and the "new morality" have m
it difficult for another generation of gay people to acknowledge their homosexuali
openly; these plays delineate the difficulties gays encounter. A subcategory of thes
plays is the "old college friend" play, since it is often a college roommate or friend w
causes the first stirring of homosexual feelings.

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 GAY THEATRE 39

Robert
Robert Patrick,
Patrick,
one ofone
the of
most
the
produced
mostgay
produced
playwrights,
gay adds
playwrights,
some other add
categories:
categories:
The
TheBackstage-at-the-Famous-Drag-Show
Backstage-at-the-Famous-Drag-Show Play. OffstagePlay.
we hear
Offstage we
riotous
riotous applause.
applause.
Then the
Thengirlsthe
come
girls
on and
come
bitch on
at each
andother
bitchall at each oth
evening.
The Liberation Play, almost always "created" by a "group"... tend(s)
to be solemn and full of monologs... these tend to be earnest but
dull.

The Leather Ritual. This one baffles those of us who don't participate
because it always seems to end too soon. In the Leather Ritual Play,
an older guy talks a younger guy into putting on leather. The play ends
there. (New York City News, October 17, 1980)

Gay Theatre Companies

With an increasing number of gay plays being written, gay theatre c
formed to produce them. In 1972 playwright Doric Wilson founded TO
Side of Silence, a quote from a line of poetry by Walt Whitman) at a spa
become Manhattan's Tribeca district. TOSOS' first production, the musi
Peter del Valle and Steven Sterner, opened in early 1973 and moved to
Off-Broadway production. The company produced over 20 plays, includ
nongay works by gay playwrights (Noel Coward, Lanford Wilson, and
Gilbert and Sullivan's lolanthe with a transvestite cabaret duo playing t
Wilson's own Now She Dances!, which was invited to Fordham Universit
Ground Festival-the first time a gay company performed in a Cath
setting.
TOSOS' last production was in 1977-Wilson's The West Street Gang, done as en-
vironmental theatre at a leather bar in the Chelsea area, dealt with the issue of
"fagbashing" in the same neighborhood where the incidents actually occurred. It was
an attempt to take a gay play directly to its constituency.
TOSOS' successor as the New York gay theatre company was The Glines, founded
in 1976 by John Glines, who served for a time as an administrator at TOSOS. Also main-
taining a Tribeca space for the first two years of their existence, they produced
numerous gay and lesbian plays, cabaret shows and art exhibits, fulfilling their stated
purpose of being a "gay arts center."
After losing the space in 1978, The Glines became primarily a producing organiza-
tion, utilizing different Manhattan theatres to present plays like the world premiere of
Doric Wilson's A Perfect Relationship, which has since been frequently produced by
regional gay theatre companies. That summer, they staged a revival of Relationship,
Robert Patrick's frequently produced The Haunted Host, Richard Hall's Love Match and
Wilson's The West Street Gang at the same Chelsea leather bar where the latter play
was originally performed.
In 1980, The Glines sponsored the First Gay American Arts Festival, with the
assistance of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State
Council on the Arts. The Festival was a six-week event that included six plays, two film
series, art exhibits, dance events, poetry readings and cabaret shows. One of the plays,
Robert Patrick's T-Shirts, featured well-known gay porno star Jack Wrangler in a central
dramatic role; another play, Jane Chambers' Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, subse-
quently moved to a commercial Off-Broadway production.

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Three
Three plays
plays by
byDoric
DoricWilson:
Wilson:(left)
(left)
Now
Now
She
She
Dances!,
Dances!,
TOSOS,
TOSOS,
New
New York;
York; (right)
(right)The
TheWest
WestStreet
Street
Gang,
Gang,
New
New
Back
Back
Alley
Alley
Theatre,
Theatre,
Washington, D.C.; (below) A Perfect Relationship, Theatre
Rhinoceros, San Francisco.

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 GAY THEATRE 41

Gay
Gaytheatre
theatre is notis limited
not limited
to New York
to New City.York
Since the
City.
mid-1970s,
Since companies
the mid-1970s have
developed
developed withwith
increasing
increasing
frequency frequency
throughoutthroughout
the United States,
theCanada,
United England,
States, C
Holland
Holland andandAustralia.
Australia.
Some ofSome
the companies
of the companies
emulate the classic
emulate
avant-garde
the classic
theatreavan
groups
groups of of
the the
1960s1960s
and formulate
and formulate
their works their
as a group,
works while
as others
a group,
presentwhile
scripted
other
plays
plays using
using traditional
traditionalrehearsal
rehearsal
and performance
and performance
methods. methods.
In
InSanSan Francisco
Francisco in 1976,
in the
1976,Gaythe
Men'sGayTheatre
Men'sCollective
Theatre evolved
Collective
from a seriesevolved
of
workshops
workshops by gay
by men
gay who men had
whodonehad
theatre
doneand theatre
wanted toand
workwanted
together.to Aswork
a way oftoge
getting
getting to to
knowknow
each other,
each other,
the actors the
toldactors
each other
toldstories
eachabout
othertheir
stories
lives that
about
dealtth
with
withtheir
their survival
survival
as gayas men.
gay These
men.stories
Thesedeveloped
stories
intodeveloped
Crimes Against
into Nature:
Crimes A A
Play
Playbyby Faggots
FaggotsAboutAboutSurvival,
Survival,
which opened
whichin March
opened1977,inperformed
March 1977, at several
perfor
San
Francisco
Francisco locations,
locations,
and eventually
and eventually
played in New
played
York in
andNew
Toronto.
YorkIn 1979,
and theToronto.
group
became
became thethe
GayGay
Theatre
Theatre
Collective,
Collective,
with an equal
withrepresentation
an equal representation
of lesbians, and in
1980
1980presented
presented
another
another
collectively
collectively
devised piece,
devised
Contents
piece,
UnderContents
Pressure, which
Under
was
wasconcerned
concernedwithwith
the increasing
the increasing
violence against
violence
gays in
against
San Francisco.
gays in San Fr
Another
AnotherSanSan
Francisco
Francisco
group, group,
Theatre Rhinoceros,
Theatre Rhinoceros,
was founded in was
1977 founded
by Allan in
Estes
Estesand
and
presented
presented
Lanford
Lanford
Wilson's Wilson's
The Madness
The
of Lady
Madness
Bright of
as its
Lady
firstBright
produc- as
tion.
tion.The Thecompany
company has since
hasproduced
since produced
over two dozenover plays,
twoconducted
dozen plays,
classes and
cond
sponsored
sponsored an ongoing
an ongoingplayreading
playreading
series. It has
series.
become Itthe
hascity's
become
largestthe
and city's
best
known
known gaygay
theatre
theatre
company,
company,
due to theduesuccess
to the
of West
success
Coast of
premieres
West of Coast
threepr
Doric
Doric Wilson
Wilsonplays-
plays-
The West
TheStreet
West Gang
Street
(againGang
staged (again
environmentally
staged environment
in a leather
bar),
bar),A A Perfect
Perfect
Relationship
Relationship
and ForeverAfter-and
and ForeverAfter-and
a 1979 Robert Patrick
a 1979Festival.
Robert ThePatr
company
company offered
offered
its first
its subscription
first subscription
season in theseason
fall of in
1980.
the fall of 1980.
In
InMinneapolis,
Minneapolis, Richard
Richard
Rehse founded
Rehse the founded
Out-and-About
the Out-and-About
Theatre Company The in
1977,
1977, encouraged
encouragedby the byresponse
the response
to a production
to a of
production
Al Carmines'of TheAlFaggot
Carmines'
that he Th
directed
directed forfor
a community
a community
theatre in
theatre
1976. After
in 1976.
openingAfter
with The
opening
Boys In with
the Band,
Thethe
Bo
group
group found
found
spacespace
at theat
Walker
the Walker
Church, often
Church,
used byoften
other used
minority
by theatre
other groups.
minorit
Like
LikeTheatre
TheatreRhinoceros,
Rhinoceros,
Out-and-About
Out-and-About
uses traditional
usestheatre
traditional
methods theatre
to present met
area
areapremieres
premieres of scripted
of scripted
gay plays,
gayincluding
plays,theincluding
first U.S. production
the firstafter
U.S.Broadway
productio
of
ofMartin
MartinSherman's
Sherman's
gay holocaust
gay holocaust
play, Bent,play,
in the Bent,
fall of 1980.
in theAlsofall
like of
Theatre
1980
Rhinoceros,
Rhinoceros, Out-and-About
Out-and-Aboutattemptsattempts
to present world
to present
premieresworld
of gaypremieres
plays, most of g
notably
notably Robert
RobertPatrick's
Patrick's
T-Shirts,
T-Shirts,
another frequently
anotherproduced
frequently
gay play.
produced gay p
In
InEngland,
England, the the
Gay Sweatshop
Gay Sweatshop
presentedpresented
a series of lunchtime
a seriesperformances
of lunchtime en- pe
titled
titled Homosexual
Homosexual Acts in
Acts
1975 in
at the
1975 Almost
at the
FreeAlmost
Theatre. Free
It, too,Theatre.
featured several
It, too, f
plays
plays bybyRobert
RobertPatrick.
Patrick.
After developing
After developing
several of their
several
own works-scripted
of their own by Drew
work
Griffiths,
Griffiths, NoelNoel
GreigGreig
and other
andwriters-the
other writers-the
group concentrated
group primarily
concentrated
on touring
prim
and
andeventually
eventuallysplit split
into two
intoartistically
two artistically
autonomous male
autonomous
and femalemale
groupsand
sharing
female
the same name.
In Australia, the Gay Theatre Company formed in Sydney in 1979, first presen
their version of a Gay Sweatshop play, As Time Goes By, during Gay Solidarity W
The group alternates between scripted plays and collectively devised pieces, perfor
ing The Haunted Host, P.S. Your Cat Is Dead! and their version of Lewis Carroll's A
In Wonderland in the past two years. Dennis Scott, the group's coordinator, states
concern of some gay theatre people for official-straight-recognition:

The grant that we received from the Australia Council has increased
our credibility a great deal. People who attend performances of the
major companies in the city; e.g., the Australian Opera and the
Australian Ballet, etc., are used to seeing that they are supported by
the Council. They'll see it in our next program as well.

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42 THE DRAMA REVIEW/T89

A Dutch gay rock-theatre group, The Softies (Rooie Flikkers), tries to pres
theatre from a different political and cultural esthetic:

There should no longer be a gay culture, produced by gays and

directed at gays in their own safe environment. We will try to under-
stand the attempted abortion of homosexuality by male society. It
seems that sublimated homosexuality, as a constant impulse for the
industrial machinery of our society, wants to neutralize manifest
homosexuality because of the danger of blowing up the foundation of
the whole system. We are especially interested in productions that
expose the ways in which gays relate to the world of men, and that
find forms to express these relationships from a critical point of view.

After 1979, The Softies claim that they have started playing mainly for nong
audiences and that they have more support from the punks and young workers tha
from gays, even though they sing lines to those audiences like, "You're all dirty stin
women-fuckers." The Softies also try to address the concern of gay people and the
dain of theatre critics who feel that gay theatre is "ghetto theatre":

Sooner or later all gay theatre that stops exclusively addressing its
own subculture is placed in the dilemma of continuing to play the
subversive role for nongay audiences (with the danger of being
nothing more than exhibitionists) or becoming a dubious kind of
cultural and social agency for sexuality in general.
Exactly at this crossroad of subversive and social approach, gay
theatre can also break with the issue of sexuality. The easy approach
to sex has a subversive function as long as gay theatre stays in its
own circles, but if you want cultural and social exposure, gay sexual-
ity is not what's subversive, it's the gay double perception [of the city].

In 1978, the Gay Theatre Alliance was formed "recognizing the need for co
munication and support" among the ever-growing number of gay theatre companie
The Alliance's January 1981 quarterly newsletter lists 28 lesbian and gay theatre co
panies in 21 cities in five countries. Virtually all of the companies feel the need to
plain to their audiences the reason for their existence and their choice of being a g
theatre. Their statements of purpose are remarkably similar, as these excerpts indi

TOSOS, New York: to develop a working space... to explore

openly... the separate and singular experience in the gay lifestyle.
The Glines, New York: a forum for the gay experience... a place
where art and identity can be explored together.
Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco: to provide a supportive working
atmosphere for gay people in the theatre arts and to the creation and
realization of gay theatre.
Earnest Players, San Francisco: to produce the work of gay men and
women on themes meaningful to gays.
Speak Its Name, Chicago: to present productions reflective of the
gay/lesbian experience.
Janus, Theatre For Gays, Phoenix: to provide theatrical productions
of an educational and entertaining nature for the greater Phoenix
community.

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 GAY THEATRE 43

Apollo's
Apollo's Mice,
Mice,
Los Angeles:
Los Angeles:
dedicated todedicated
the dual propositions
to the dualof propositio
presenting
presenting lesbian
lesbian
and gayand
lifestyles
gay inlifestyles
a balanced perspective
in a balanced
and perspect
presenting
presenting an outlet
an outlet
for openly
forgayopenly
and lesbian
gay artists
andandlesbian
authors.artists and aut
Front
Front Runner
RunnerProductions,
Productions,
Los Angeles:Los
to encourage,
Angeles:supportto encourage,
and supp
uplift
uplift gaygay
artists
artists
in exploring
in exploring
and developing
and their
developing
true identities.
their true ident
Triangle Theatre Company, Boston: to provide a supportive at-
mosphere where gay men and women can work... and to provide new
and positive role models for our audience.
Gay Sweatshop, London: to discover and present plays with truthful-
ly gay themes.
Gay Theatre Company, Sydney: to present homosexuality in the
theatre in an intelligent and honest fashion.
Theatre Closet, Baltimore: to bring good lesbian/gay theatre to the
Baltimore gay community.
Gay theatre companies also took other forms in the 1950s and 1960s, when bars
(particularly in San Francisco) and motorcycle and leather-and-levi clubs often staged
plays and musicals, sometimes with rewritten, satirical lyrics. While the latter were
meant as entertainment for club functions, occasionally they drew large audiences and
the groups even rented theatres in which to perform. Some gay companies could be
classified as community theatre groups; the early Stonewall Company (which did
straight plays with men playing women's roles), the West Side Discussion Group
theatre and one of its offshoots, Manhattan Lambda Productions.

Gay Performance

The term "gay theatre" is often used to describe another type of performance that
is difficult to define precisely; many of the groups thus categorized object to the term,
feeling it is too limited and not an accurate description of their work. The theatre of
1960s-1970s groups like Ronald Tavel and John Vaccaro's Playhouse of the Ridiculous
and Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theatrical Company (T41, T62), H. M. Koutoukas, Hot
Peaches, the Trocadero ballets, the Cockettes and Ethyl Eichelberger are loosely
related as drag/transvestitelradical camp theatre. All of these groups employ some
aspects of outrageousness, outlandish costumes and sets, movie references (de-
scribed by Jack Smith, T81), puns, intentionally "bad" acting and camp to create highly
theatrical and stylized performances. Since these characteristics are often used to
describe a certain kind of gay consciousness, these companies are labeled gay theatre.
The Angels of Light have been working in this tradition in San Francisco since
1970, when the group staged a mock nativity at Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at Grace
Cathedral. Most of the original members were ex-Cockettes who wanted to form a
theatre collective; they were joined by other theatre artists and numerous street people.
At that time, the group consisted mostly of gay men, but it currently has a mix of
male/female, gay/straight members.
Since their inception, the Angels of Light have produced over 40 shows that have
used the stylistic conventions of gay theatre and gradually included other theatrical
forms: dance, mime, music, maskmaking and Eastern theatrical conventions.
According to Rodney Price, one of the Angels, the company reflected the libera-
tion just beginning to be felt after the Stonewall riots:

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The Angels of Light's Holy Cow.

Initially
Initiallythe
theAngels
Angelsbrought
broughttheir
their
gay gay
lifestyles
lifestyles
and fantasies
and fantasies
upon the
upon the
stage.
stage. The
Theaudience
audiencewas
wasgiven
given
thethe
opportunity
opportunity to indulge
to indulge
in their
in fan-
their fan-
tasies
tasies and
andbecome
becomefulfilled
fulfilled
andand
enlightened,
enlightened,
and see
andpeople
see people
like like
themselves,
themselves,sharing
sharing
and
andgiving
giving
without
without
fear,fear,
theirtheir
happiness
happiness
in being
in being
gay.
gay. The
Theroles
rolespresented
presented were
were
notnot
always
always
the most
the most
politically
politically
correctcorrect
or
or sensitively
sensitivelyportrayed,
portrayed,butbut
they
they
always
always
gave gave
one the
onesense
the sense
of of
freedom
freedomandandananopen
open
sexual
sexual
foresight
foresight
which
which
seemed
seemed
inevitable,
inevitable,
not not
only
only on
onthe
thestage
stagebut
but
in in
thethe
street.
street.
(Bay
(Bay Area
AreaReporter,
Reporter,April
April
10,10,
1980)
1980)

A
A group
groupof
of"tap
"tapdancing
dancing
drag
drag
queens"
queens"
havehave
also been
also been
performing
performing
in thisin
style
thisofstyle of
gay
gay theatre
theatreininLondon
Londonsince
since
1977.
1977.
Bette
Bette
Bourne
Bourne
and Bloolips
and Bloolips
combine
combine
"mime,"mime,
the the
blues,
blues, some
somestrenuous
strenuous taptap
routines,
routines,androgyne
androgyne politics
politics
and old-fashioned
and old-fashioned
star quality"
star quality"
(Vito
(Vito Russo,
Russo,Soho
SohoNews,
News, November
November 19,1980)
19,1980)in their
in their
threethree
productions
productions
to date.to
Bloolips
date. Bloolips
brought
broughtthe themost
mostrecent
recentwork,
work, LustLust
In Space,
In Space,
to New
to York
New York
to twotoprivate
two private
lofts and
lofts
two and two
commercial
commercialtheatres
theatresin in
thethe
fallfall
of 1980.
of 1980.Bourne
Bourne
workedworked
previously
previously
with Hotwith
Peaches
Hot Peaches
and
and toured
touredEurope
Europewith
with them
themforfor
one one
seasonseason
before
before
creating
creating
the group:
the group:
"Bloolips'
"Bloolips'
birth birth
was
was something
somethingofofanan explosion.
explosion.I knew
I knew
I justI just
had to
hadgettosomething
get something
on the on
stage
theatstage
that at that
point."
Before touring Lust In Space in Europe and to New York, Bloolips performed their
version of The Ugly Duckling and Cheek, or the Marie-Maison-Blanc Show. The latter is
about Mary Whitestone, the English version of Anita Bryant; it ends with Whitestone
going mad and becoming a Bloolip in a production of Salome.
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Four members of Bloolips, (1-r) Precious Pearl, Lavinia Co-op,
Diva Danny and Bette Bourne, in Lust in Space.

Russo, in hisRusso
article about the company, calls Bloolips "the theatrical expression
of people in exile
of from a movement that couldn't afford their peo kind of image.... and now
that the pendulum
that looks to be swinging back to the right, there's gay conformity to fight th
as well as the traditional kind."
Bette Bourne:

Yes, dear, we're going to be illegal again. Lots of old queens really en-
joyed being illegal. We were doing something really naughty then.

0* *

Is the
to New
his wo
munit
Novem
forma
festiv
man-e
Dancin
text p
Eric G
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Tim Miller's paint yr face red.

Tim
Tim Miller
Millerexplains
explainsthe
the
reason
reason
he believes
he believes
therethere
is a second
is a second
generation
generation
of gay of gay
culture:

The visible gay arts community, especially in theatre/performance,

evolved through people already recognized in their fields saying, "By
the way, I'm gay." Coming from a whole different set of cir-
cumstances, they were attached to conventional forms-musicals,
romanticized, idealized love, nostalgia. Or camp self-parody. Both
those sensibilities are about a low level of self-acceptance. Being
born in 1958, I don't feel as connected to the whole milieu that made
camp necessary. The new generation is now responding in a different
way to movies, theatre, rock'n'roll, and though there have obviously
been gays in the forefront of performing arts, there didn't seem to be a
consciously gay avant-garde communality. So it's great to be involved
with performers who work in much less constricted forms and,
because of the earlier struggle, can now have this positive,
courageous approach.
(Soho News, November 12, 1980)

The recent work of the Iowa Theatre Lab-Blood Addiction, White Knight-under
the direction of Ric Zank, also explores through the workshop development procedure
a type of theatre that is related to the "second generation" that Miller defines.

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