LGBTQ theatre

LGBTQ theatre (also known as gay theatre, lesbian theatre or queer theatre) is theatre that is based on the lives of gay and lesbian people and gay and lesbian culture. Some LGBTQ theatre is specifically about the experiences of gay men or lesbian women.^[1] Collectively, LGBTQ theatre forms part of LGBTQ culture.

Famous examples of LGBTQ theatre include the musical Rent by Jonathan Larson and the play Bent by Martin Sherman.

In Ancient Greece, homosexuality was considered normal and was even promoted in some settings. In Thebes, it was actively practiced and legally "incentivized".^[2] The theater was considered a "tool to promote society's values"^[3] and homosexuality was showcased in these plays. In Aristophanes' play The Knights, the protagonist Agoracritus openly admits to having been a "passive" partner.^[4] In another one of Aristophanes' plays, Thesmophoriazusae, the character of Euripides directs what could be seen as homophobic comments to his colleague Agathon. Other characters in the play ridicule his behavior and point out their obsession with masculinity.^[5] As the play is a comedy, many have interpreted the character as humorous. A theorized example of homosexuality in the Iliad is Achilles and Patroclus. Historians and contemporaries theorize that the characters had a more than platonic relationship.^[6] The story of Achilles and Patroclus was portrayed in William Shakespeare's play, Troilus and Cressida.

Homosexuality was not significantly notarized in the centuries following the downfall of Ancient Greece and leading up until the 20th century. Theatre during that time period is not known to have any LGBTQ themes or ideas. Homosexuality was known and written about starting closer to the 20th century. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the idea of homosexuality was very stigmatized around the world. In the UK, the punishment for any act of sodomy was execution.^[7] Additionally, there was a shift in the classification of homosexual men, as sodomy was no longer an act but an identity.^[7] During an era where homosexuality was criminalized, plays about the lives of gay men were not present. However, since the era of Shakespeare, men were used to playing women's roles in theatre.^[8] Women were seen as unfit to play characters in plays, so men would dress up like women to portray female characters.^[9] This continued until the 19th century when the popularization of opera allowed women to access the world of theater.^[10]

In the United States, the New York City theatre scene was the center of LGBTQ theatre in the country during the mid-20th century. Caffe Cino was the birthplace of Off-Off Broadway, where The Madness of Lady Bright, the first admittedly LGBTQ play was performed.^[10] The show was the longest-running at the Caffe Cino and was performed over 200 times to packed houses.^[11] Four years later, the first LGBTQ play to be on Off-Broadway, was performed, The Boys in the Band.^[10] This play garnered serious attention, as it was performed at a legitimate playhouse. Although reactions were mixed, The Boys in the Band cemented a legacy for itself and is considered one of the classic LGBTQ plays.^[12] By 1983, a mainstream LGBTQ musical on Broadway was performed. La Cage aux Folles was a musical based on the 1978 movie La Cage aux Folles.^[13] The story surrounds a middle-aged homosexual couple who learns how deep their love truly is after navigating obstacles. The play was groundbreaking because of the characterization of its main characters, one being the owner of a Saint-Tropez drag club and the other its star performer. The play received high praise and won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1984. It was performed 1,761 times, and was revived in the fall of 2004.^[13]

The mid-20th century saw the rise of LGBTQ plays and the popularization of them. Even with the stigma around the LGBTQ community, especially with the rise in the AIDS epidemic, LGBTQ pride and media were becoming mainstream. Plays, TV shows, and films about LGBT-identifying people were becoming common pieces of media. Popular musicals began to pop up throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the most famous being Rent, which came out in the 1990s. The musical is set in the early 1990s, and it centers around a group of New Yorkers, as they struggle with their careers, love lives, and the AIDS epidemic. The play was seen as groundbreaking and was performed over 5,000 times and ran for 12 years.^[14] The legacy that Rent produced allowed for a range of LGBTQ productions to be performed across the world. Subsequent notable American LGBTQ musicals include Fun Home and A Strange Loop.

The history of LGBTQ theatre has inspired many plays and musicals over the years. As the genre grew, playwrights and screenwriters cited the "classics" as their reference for their projects. A prominent play that has been cited as "influential", was one of the first, The Boys in the Band.^[10] The play became prominent throughout the U.S. when it came out for being the "most frank description of being gay", and instantly received praise and criticism.^[15] The play, for many, was cited as their first time being exposed to homosexuality. In 2018, an article by the New York Times came out, where people submitted stories about how they heard about The Boys in the Band, and how it affected them. The play was revived for its fiftieth anniversary in 2018 with a cast including Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, and Zachary Quinto.^[10] The play's producer Ryan Murphy stated "The guys that who are the leads, are the first generation of gay actors who said, 'We're going to live authentic lives and hope and pray our careers remain on track' — and they have. I find that profound."^[16] The play was brought back with two other gay "classics", Angels in America and Torch Song Trilogy.^[10]

LGBTQ theatre has become much more popular in the last century, including in North America, Asia, and Europe. However, this has not been without resistance, due to homophobia and other discrimination against the LGBTQ community. The presence, scope, and reception of LGBTQ theatre often depends on the country or region's rates of legal and cultural tolerance and acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

LGBTQ theatre is generally less prominent in Asia than in other continents.^[17] However, some countries still have LGBTQ theatre scenes, with Taiwan being one example.

Within Taiwan, conservatism is still widely present which represses many citizens in general but especially those of the LGBTQ community.^[17] However, since the lifting of martial law in the country, queer theater has become more popular. Many Taiwanese queer theatres had similar themes, those being queer identification and gender and sexuality. A very important person during this time in LGBTQ theatre was Lai Sheng-Chuan, who would end up bringing LGBTQ theatre to light by criticizing the government, as well as dreams that many Taiwanese people wished to achieve because the martial law was abolished.^[17]

The first known queer theater in Taiwan was Maoshi, which was established in 1988 by Tian ChiYuan, who would end up dying from AIDS. He would use theatre to fight homophobia as well as stigma against AIDS during times of extreme conservatism.^[17] His goal was to break social norms and to bring light to people of the LGBTQ community. Some of Tian ChiYuan's most known plays are adaptations of Whitewater and Legend of the white snake, which were both centered around homoerotic love, which was an unseen public topic during the 1990s.^[17] Even after Tian ChiYuan's death, people would continue to create adaptations of Whitewater because of its symbolism of queer trauma and people wanted that legacy to continue, because of his amazing influence in LGBTQ theatre.

Like the U.S., Europe generally has a more progressive view on LGBTQ theatre and has been accepting of the LGBTQ community while also providing representation. In Europe, LGBTQ theatre dates back all the way to the 6th century BC in Ancient Greece. Although technically it is not classified as LGBT, men would dress as women because women were not yet allowed in the theatre industry, which can be seen as a form of drag.^[12]

Shakespeare produced plays that may be seen by some as equivalent to LGBTQ plays currently. Current LGBTQ theatre is more accepted in Europe but in past centuries there were many restrictions regarding what could be put on stage, limiting LGBTQ theatre. In the UK, this was apparent all the way up until the mid-1900s. The Lord Chamberlain was empowered by the Licensing Act 1737 to act as a theatrical censor, a power which was held by the office until 1968.^[18] However, later some of those restrictions would be lifted and in the 21st century many LGBTQ plays could be seen in theatre.

LGBTQ theatre has been relatively well known in the U.S. for the past few decades. It has been around for longer than that but suffered a lot of controversy.^[19] Some U.S. LGBTQ shows include Rent, an LGBTQ story written in 2005 by Chris Columbus about the contracting of AIDS and the controversy surrounding it, or The Prom by Chad Beguelin, which follows a group of Indiana teens trying to help their lesbian friend who was banned from bringing her girlfriend to the prom due to living in a conservative town. These musicals/plays portray LGBTQ characters and provide representation to their audiences. The U.S. has been a hub for LGBTQ representation and this is very apparent through LGBTQ theatre. This includes more than just Broadway, as there is a plentiful amount of smaller theatres which premiere LGBTQ centered plays all around the U.S. Playbill stated, "Diversionary Theatre was founded in 1986 to provide quality theatre for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. The mission of the theatre is to provide an inspiring and thought-provoking theatrical platform to explore complex and diverse LGBTQ stories."^[10] This theatre and many other smaller theatres have similar missions: to present diversity among LGBTQ individuals and to educate people about the community.

LGBTQ theater has faced backlash from audiences and critics for over a century. The backlash against LGBTQ theater ranges from physical to financial threats and is a big part of the barriers that LGBTQ theater faces due to the nature of its content. These backlashes are often because of what LGBTQ theater is about — showing the lives and stories of LGBTQ folks living their lives, such as musicals like Rent and plays like Angels in America.^[20][21]

Some backlashes against LGBTQ theater relate to the withdrawal of financial support or the canceling of the show itself. Financial threats are the most common in the LGBTQ theater and threaten many stages where LGBTQ performances can be held.

In December 1935, authorities in Boston declared that the play The Children's Hour did not meet the standards of the Watch and Ward Society due to its "lesbian content" and that it could not be performed in the following month as scheduled. Producer Herman Shumlin filed a $250,000 suit for damages with support from the ACLU,^[22] but in February 1936 a Federal judge refused to prevent the city from interfering in the presentation of the play.^{[23]: 49–50 [24][25][26]} In January 1936, a municipal censorship ordinance was used to decline granting a performance permit for The Children's Hour in Chicago.^{[23]: 50 [27]}

In March 1970, when the play The Boys in the Band was staged in the Black Box Theater at the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center, the Fulton County Commission threatened to cut public funding due to its portrayal of gay life, labeling it "filthy content."^[28] Nevertheless, the play continued to be staged for two weeks and would be staged again at Buckhead Theatre in 1976.

The 1996 premiere of Angels in America in Charlotte, North Carolina was threatened with cancellation due to protests from locals. This made the show more successful because more people gathered to see what the fuss was all about, selling out the tickets.^[29]

In the 2020s, the cancellation of shows has occurred most often in school plays, as school administration may cancel shows due to their content. For example, at Florida's Duval County Public Schools in January 2023, administrators stopped production of the play Indecent, which detailed a love affair between two women, due to its "mature content."^[30] In February 2023, Indiana's Northwest Allen County Schools canceled a production of the play Marian after adults protested over its depiction of a same-sex couple and a non-binary character.^[30]

In November 2022, performances of a children's play at a theatre in the Southern Russian city of Novosibirsk were canceled just days after local Culture Ministry authorities stated that they would investigate whether or not the performance violated anti-LGBTQ legislation set in place in 2013.^[31] Although the Siberian Theater announced that the play was canceled due to technical difficulties, the show's cancellation came only days after many posts emerged on social media to investigate whether the show broke the Russian laws banning the "promotion of non-traditional sexual relations with minors."^[32] The show was canceled just 20 minutes before the start, and while authorities declined to say whether the cancellation was due to the announced investigation, many believe that the cancellation was due to the relationship of two characters in the show where they act out a scene from The Princess and The Ogre as two men.

In June 2018, the Hungarian State Opera canceled over a dozen performances of the musical Billy Elliot after a newspaper columnist accused the production of being "gay propaganda."^[33] A June 1 column by Zsofia N. Horvath in the conservative paper Magyar Idők claimed that this musical involving a boy searching to become a ballet dancer exposes young audience members to "unrestrained gay propaganda," going "against the objectives of the state...in a situation where the population is already aging and decreasing." This caused 15 of the shows to be canceled.^[34]

Below is a collection of multiple notable LGBTQ actors,^[35][36] directors, and playwrights.^[37] It contains different people from throughout the eras, going as far back as 1854, and to recent, more modern roles.

• One of the first and most notable LGBTQ playwrights was Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, or Oscar Wilde.^[38] Born October 16, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland, he is known for works such as The Importance of Being Earnest.^[38] Due to his homosexuality at that time, he was arrested and sent to prison.^[38]
• Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) was an openly gay American playwright.^[39] He wrote plays such as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.^[39] Alongside plays, Williams also wrote short stories, poetry and some memoirs, and was also inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.^[39]
• Edward Franklin Albee III was born March 12, 1928, and wrote many plays throughout his life, including The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Three Tall Women, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?^[40] He was openly gay and never hid his homosexuality.^[40]
• Tony Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an openly gay American playwright. He is best known for his work on Angels in America, which won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, he also received the National Medal of Arts from Barack Obama in 2013.
• Mart Crowley (born August 21, 1935) and is an American playwright best known for his work on the play Boys in the Band, which had gay themes. Other works include Remote Asylum and A Breeze from the Gulf.
• John Waters (born April 22, 1946) is an openly gay American actor, playwright, filmmaker. He has appeared in films such as Seed of Chucky and Suburban Gothic, but also wrote and directed the film Hairspray, which was later turned into a Broadway musical.
• Harvey Fierstein (born June 6, 1954) and is an openly gay American actor and playwright. He is mostly known for his work with productions like Hairspray and films like Independence Day. He also wrote the book for the musical La Cage aux Folles and has won four Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Play, Best Play, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Actor in a Musical.

• Bare: A Pop Opera by Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo
• Bare: The Musical by Jon Hartmere, Damon Intrabartolo, and Lynne Shankel
• Cabaret by Fred Ebb, John Kander, and Joe Masteroff
• La Cage Aux Folles by Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman
• The Color Purple by Stephen Bray, Marsha Norman, Brenda Russell, and Allee Willis
• Falsettos by William Finn and James Lapine
• Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori
• Hedwig and the Angry Inch by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask
• Kinky Boots by Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper
• Kiss of the Spider Woman by Fred Ebb, John Kander, and Terrence McNally
• Rent by Jonathan Larson
• Spring Awakening by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik
• A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson
• The View UpStairs by Max Vernon

• Angels in America by Tony Kushner
• Bent by Martin Sherman
• The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
• Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally
• The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project
• M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
• The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
• Stop Kiss by Diana Son
• Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein
• The Prince by Abigail Thorn

• Dublin Gay Theatre Festival
• List of LGBTQ theatre companies
• LGBTQ history
• Drag show
• Ball culture