Out on Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theater in the Twentieth Century
This intriguing book tracks stage representations of lesbians and gay men from Oscar Wilde to the present day. Alan Sinfield examines scores of British and American plays produced and viewed in alternative as well as West End and Broadway theaters. Theater, he argues, was and is an important place for the circulation of images of homosexuality and for the exploration of concepts of gender and sexuality.
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This intriguing book tracks stage representations of lesbians and gay men from Oscar Wilde to the present day. Alan Sinfield examines scores of British and American plays produced and viewed in alternative as well as West End and Broadway theaters. Theater, he argues, was and is an important place for the circulation of images of homosexuality and for the exploration of concepts of gender and sexuality.Library JournalSinfield (English, Univ. of Sussex; The Wilde Century) has produced the most thorough critical history of queer representation on the stage to date. Sinfield's coverage of both lesbian and gay male theater and his seamless discussion of both British and U.S. theater surpasses John M. Clum's Acting Gay (LJ 3/1/92). Working in a roughly chronological order, he analyzes plays in chapters that highlight common themes or strategies. For example, he focuses on plays in which identity, family unity, or social stability is threatened by queer characters (who often never appear onstage). Gays and lesbians were portrayed obliquely (at best) through much of the first three quarters of the century, and Sinfield shows how more positive portrayals and even acceptance of gays in mainstream theater have taken place since, roughly, the early 1980s. Despite this acceptance, he argues, there is still a role for what he calls the "subcultural work" of queer theater, one that speaks to gays and lesbians on their own terms. Essential for academic libraries supporting queer cultural studies and highly recommended for those supporting upper-level undergraduate and graduate studies in modern drama.--Robert W. Melton, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
AcknowledgementsNote on Indexes and Citations1Introduction12Society and its Others: Scandal273Society and its Others: Bohemia484Emergings715Noel Coward's Audiences986Gay Men and Gender1147Lesbians and Gender1308Class Conscious1529Queer Thrills16710Reading Tennessee Williams18611The All-American Family20812The Problem of the Problem23513Politics and Anger25114'The Sixties'26815Subcultural Work29616AIDS: Crisis and Drama31417Dissident Strategies330Notes354Index of Plays376Index of Names and Topics397
\ Library JournalSinfield (English, Univ. of Sussex; The Wilde Century) has produced the most thorough critical history of queer representation on the stage to date. Sinfield's coverage of both lesbian and gay male theater and his seamless discussion of both British and U.S. theater surpasses John M. Clum's Acting Gay (LJ 3/1/92). Working in a roughly chronological order, he analyzes plays in chapters that highlight common themes or strategies. For example, he focuses on plays in which identity, family unity, or social stability is threatened by queer characters (who often never appear onstage). Gays and lesbians were portrayed obliquely (at best) through much of the first three quarters of the century, and Sinfield shows how more positive portrayals and even acceptance of gays in mainstream theater have taken place since, roughly, the early 1980s. Despite this acceptance, he argues, there is still a role for what he calls the "subcultural work" of queer theater, one that speaks to gays and lesbians on their own terms. Essential for academic libraries supporting queer cultural studies and highly recommended for those supporting upper-level undergraduate and graduate studies in modern drama.--Robert W. Melton, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.\ \
