LGBTQ* Theatre for Social Change
POST-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
POST-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
- 1990-1993
- Tim Miller, Holly Hughes, Karen Finley, & John Fleck
- Targeted for addressing issues of gender & sexuality
- Fought the government & won
- Nat'l Endowment for the Arts v. Finley
PRE-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
Today, we will...
- b. 1894 – d. 1975
- Comedian
- ‘Lesbian Stand-Up Comedy’
- Performed in androgynous clothing in 1920’s-30’s
- Hugely radical!
- Musical written by Jonathan Larson
- Off-Bway Premiere - Jan 1996
- Bway Premiere - April 1996
- 12 year run
- 4 Tony Award Wins
- Pulitzer Prize in Drama
- Film version: 2005, dir. Chris Columbus
- Examine some important moments in LGBTQ History in the 20th-21st Century USA
- Understand how these movements in history influenced theatrical practices and vice versa
- Examine the ways in which theatre both reflects and helps shape a culture in terms of community, politics, and social change
POST-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
PRE-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
- b. 1951
- Playwright
- The Baltimore Waltz (1991)
- Obie Award Winner, 1992
- Highly influenced by AIDS epidemic
FRAMING:
The Stonewall Uprising
QUEER
Common Tropes & Stereotypes
- 1934, written by Lillian Helman
- Successful Broadway run
- Challenged in Boston
- 'first legal battle for gay & lesbian rights'
- Film version: 1961, dir. William Wyler
PRE-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
WHEN:
June 27, 1969
WHERE:
NYC bar called ‘The Stonewall Inn’
WHAT:
A police raid turned uprising
WHY:
No protection under the law for LGBTQ people
The 21st Century
- 1968, written by Mart Crowley
- Only Off-Broadway performances
- Reception changed after Stonewall...
As an adjective; an IDENTITY CATEGORY
- Umbrella term for LGBT
- A reclaimed slur
- NOT a universally-accepted term
- Non-heteronormative
- Heteronormativity: assuming that heterosexuality is the ‘default’ and prescribing sexual/gender norms accordingly
- Visibility through subtext & codes
- The ‘Sissy’
- A big joke
- The ‘Tragic’ Queer
- Ends in death
- The ‘Killer’ Queer
- Also ends in death
PRE-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
QUEER
POST-STONEWALL:
Important Works & Figures
As a verb; an action! a doing!
- To reveal its frameworks of normalcy & question them
- To subvert normative ideas through a hyper-visible performance of them
- b. 1911 – d. 1983
- Playwright
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)
- The Parade, or Approaching the End of a Summer (1962)
- Work deals with struggles of sexuality
- b. 1935
- Playwright
- The Normal Heart (1985)
- Setting: NYC, 1981-1984
- Based on Kramer's personal experiences
- Productions:
- Off-Broadway, 1985 & 2004
- Broadway, 2011
- HBO, 2014