Gay Theater: Over the Angst?

Don't worry, I love Angels in America, and it's rightfully going to go down as a defining piece of culture for the gay rights movement. And I was being hyperbolic when I said that characters in other gay shows are presented as issues and not people. My point was similar to the one made in the article; it's exciting to see that theater has evolved to the point that shows primarily focused on gay characters don't have to directly deal with so-called gay issues in order to be considered worthwhile. Angels is an era-defining piece that effectively faces AIDS, Reaganism, addiction, religion, etc.; Yank! is a love story that pays homage to the romantic musicals of the 1940s. And the great thing is that both have every right to be enjoyed for what they are.

It's all to the good to see gay relationships put in a broader context. This is, after all, what the gay marriage and DADT campaigns are all about. And it's an obvious way to draw more support from the wider society, to say nothing of making much better theatre. I saw THE PRIDE and was deeply moved, recognizing several scenes from my own past. (Also, I should admit that the co-creators of YANK! are sons of a dear departed colleague.) In the long run, trends are in our favor. But I'm 65 and growing impatient. Can't we have at least a few angry, political shows?

Finally! Thank God! It's about time! Couldn't have happened soon enough! Can't wait to see these new shows. This old paradigm got old a long time ago.

I have to admit to a certain longing for the kind of portrayal of gay themes and relationships that previous comments have described. I'm really tired of being a "movement," of having my life reduced to "gay activism" by the media and the religionists. I'm tired of having everything I do have to mean something so it can be microscopically dissected by my "opponents," whoever they are. I long to just live in the moment, to just be. Maybe that's what's being described here: gay relationships that aren't fraught with public significance.

Would you say that the main characters in Angels in America are presented as issues, not people, because they have AIDS? Isn't AIDS an actual disease that actual people have? Or is the portrayal of HIV+ people just too political and angsty and bad for business and something that theatre needs to get over? Now you personally may not feel this way, but this is what is implied in the article, and I find it offensive. From what people are posting, I'm quite willing to believe that these new plays are excellent, but this article is in no way an advertisement for them.

Ben (again, sorry): Part of what is brilliant about Yank! (and Next Fall, from what I've heard) is that it talks primarily about the side of gay life that we don't get to hear about amidst all of the political angst. Telling a story about two servicemen who fall in love doesn't NEED to reference DADT or gay marriage; it's impossible to watch the show without your opinion being shaped by those contexts. But telling a straightforward love story that happens to have gay characters at its heart drives home the point that, in the end, outside of our shared experience of oppression, AIDS, DADT, etc., what we really share is the joy and heartbreak and fear and comfort that comes from loving and being loved. I'm very impressed that these plays and musicals are treating gays exactly as we should be treated: as people, not issues.

Ben: Our relationships don't exist in a vacuum, but at the same time we aren't constantly dwelling on the things that are wrong in the world. Art is never holistic, it's can't be or everything ends up muddied. In reality do we experience a mixture of passion, and sex, and friendship, and paying unfair taxes for our partner's health care, and being frustrated about not being able to be married, and worrying about coming out to the next person we have to introduce our partner to, and looking forward to that movie we've been hearing about? Yes, we do. Similarly straight people experience a similar melting pot of experiences in day to day life, just with a different mix of ingredients. Movies about straight people focus in on one or two aspects and blow them up to create a coherent story as well. It's the way of art, and only telling the stories that include the negatives of our lives does as much dis-service as "sanitizing" those stories. They are not the same thing though.

I haven't seen any of these plays yet. If you say Next Fall is great I'll take your word for it. What I am reacting to is the way they are being presented in this article. Starting with the title, I associate "angst" with adolescent discontent, not with an epidemic, or legally sanctioned discrimination. I couldn't care less whether DADT is brought up in a play, but at the same time our relationships do not exist in a vacuum, and presenting our relationships as somehow separate from any sociopolitical context doesn't strike me as accurate. As you are aware there has been a tendency to sanitize and de-gay our experience to package it for heterosexual consumption, and this article indicates that these plays are more of the same. Maybe it is a misrepresentation.

There is no mention in any NY theater listing of a play called "Love and Faith." I hear "Yank" and "Next Fall" are wonderful. Obviously Broadway and Off Broadway are miles ahead of studio films. I just saw the new "Fame" movie on DVD and couldn't believe that a film about the High School of Performing Arts had no gay characters. What planet are these people from? I defy them to go to that school and not see open same sex couples. More gay/lesbian teens will commit suicide because Hollywood again tells them they don't exist, or they are so evil they cannot even be included in a movie about performing artists.

I was lucky enough to see Next Fall this weekend, and it is certainly not de-gayed in any way. There's great gay humor and plenty of gay issues, but they are woven into the central plot, instead of being the central plot/theme itself. I think it was such a deeply affecting performance because I am a gay person. It spoke to our experience honestly. And yet I can see how straight people may relate to the central questions of the play (religion, for example) without necessarily focusing on the gay aspects alone. It's fascinating, because while I watched the show, I found myself forgetting that this was a gay couple, and just thinking that they were a couple EVEN THOUGH the fact that they are gay is significant in this play.