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Gay-Themed Material

ON MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES - by G.L. Horton (5/10/03)

To a writer asking if it is ok to send gay-themed or gay-related plays to theatres that don't list that as a criterion:

Of course! The majority of the artistic staff at the smaller theatres in the area where I live is gay. A few of those theatres do gay-related work exclusively, that is their mission and their community-- but the others are open to such work, and include some in each season. In some parts of the country audiences are less welcoming. But still, the theatre has been gay-friendly for a long time: in a closeted way for generations and overtly for at least 30 years.

The proportion of gay people on stage, back stage, and in the audience is much higher in the theatre than in the population at large. Most of the theatres that do new plays are small, and they are run by young people, people who grew up in the overtly gay-friendly backstage atmosphere.

Of the new plays produced around here, the proportion of plays by and about gays is so high that when I suggest to my daughter that she accompany me to see a new play, she always asks: "Is it another one about coming out?" If it is-- and it often is-- I have a hard sell ahead of me to get her to come along. She found those stories interesting when she was younger and her gay friends were facing the problem, but by now they are all out and she has a "been there, seen that" attitude. (Doesn't extend to gay characters, of course. They can be as interesting or boring as any other sort of character.)

 

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