Bill Eadie

San Diego Arts

Bent at Diversionary Theatre

Broadway's first gay play at 30
By Bill Eadie
Posted on Mon, Nov 2nd, 2009
Last updated Tue, Nov 3rd, 2009

"Bent," now playing through November 22 as a co-production of Diversionary Theatre and ion theatre, was arguably the first gay play to have a Broadway run. There could well be dispute about this statement among purists, for "Bent" is a play about the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust. Some might argue that "Bent" is more a dramatization of history than a play that exhibited a gay sensibility, but playwright Martin Sherman and London production star Sir Ian McKellen at a minimum deserve credit for bringing that history to public attention. "Bent" was probably produced on Broadway only because romantic film star Richard Gere played the central role, and no one thought that Mr. Gere was really gay. It would be a few years yet before Harvey Firestein's "Torch Song Trilogy" would bring audiences to a Broadway theatre to see an "out" gay man starring in a play about a drag queen, his family and gay friends.

But, "Bent" paved the way, and thirty years later it still has the power to shock. And, this production, as directed by ion co-founders Glenn Paris and Claudio Raygoza, does so in admirable manner.

Tales of the Holocaust have become a dime-a-dozen, and "Bent's" first act replicates the structure of many of those tales. Max (Michael Zlotnik) is a young gay man leading a wild life with his lover, Rudy (Chris Buess) in pre-war Berlin. Gays have been ignored by the Nazis, we learn, because they had a protector in Ernst Röhm, the leader of the Sturmabteilung, a paramilitary group close to Hitler. But, in a massacre that became known as "The Night of the Long Knives," Hitler moved against Röhm and his group, which Hitler feared had become too powerful. Their protector gone, gay men began to be rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Max's uncle Freddie (Walter Ritter) warned Max that he should flee to Amsterdam, but Walter was only able to procure one ticket and set of false papers for the trip. Max, not wanting to leave Rudy, declined Freddie's offer and eventually Rudy and Max were caught.

The first act plods with conventional storytelling and requirements for set changes (Mr. Raygoza and Assistant Director Bret Young did the set design) that are difficult to achieve with a small budget and limited rigging. It is in Act II, however, where "Bent" shines.

Charlie Reuter and Michael Zlotnik

Photo credit: Daren Scott

Having arrived at Dachau by himself, Max "worked a deal" to be labeled with a Jew's yellow star, rather than a homosexual's inverted pink triangle. He also arranged to have Horst (Charlie Reuter), a "pink triangle" man he met on the train, assigned to work with him. The two men's work was to move rocks from one pile to another and back again, all day with only brief rest periods, during which they had to stand at attention. In essence, Act II belongs to Max and Horst, and Mr. Sherman's writing becomes unconventional, with the two men speaking to each other only in short bursts that are, of necessity, rife with significance. Under the watchful eye of the directors, Mr. Zlotnik and Mr. Reuter time the lines perfectly and sweep the audience along with them. The high point comes when the two, standing at attention during a rest period, imagine making love to each other in a highly graphic manner. A two-character, single set, scene where the primary action is moving rocks across the stage becomes a jaw-dropping experience that can't fail to affect.

"Bent" is definitely for mature audiences. There are gunshots, violence, depictions of murder and suicide, and for good measure explicit sexual language and full-frontal male nudity. Even with the brilliant performances, Act II is wearing. But, "Bent" demands to be seen, and audiences who thought that they knew the horrors of the Holocaust for Jews will come away with a new awareness of the different sort of horror that awaited gay men in the camps.

DOWNLOAD CAST AND CREW CREDITS AND BIOS HERE

About the author: Bill Eadie is a professor of journalism and media studies at San Diego State University. He has a long-standing connection to the San Diego arts scene, having attended his first professional theatre performance in San Diego at age 13. He was smitten and has kept coming back for more ever since.
More by this author.

Subscribe to Arts

 · 

Comments

Posted by Ken Herman	Tue, Nov 3rd, 2009
I do think that Mort Crowley's 1968 play "Boys in the Band" ("Bent appeared in 1979) is a more likely candidate for "Broadway's first gay play." And of course, Williams' earlier "Suddenly Last Summer" is pretty queer, too, but then we are getting into closets most of us wish to avoid.

Posted by Bill Eadie	Wed, Nov 4th, 2009
"The Boys in the Band" had a very healthy run off-Broadway, but it never played on Broadway. And yes, many of Tennessee Williams' plays were written with a gay sensibility (and one, them, "And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens," contains openly gay characters, but that play was considered "lost" until just a few years ago). "Bent" certainly reminds us that it is still illegal to love a person of the same sex in a number of countries around the world, and in some of those countries the punishment for this "crime" is execution.

(1)sandiego.com, Inc. invites comments in which readers can respond freely and anonymously if they wish. Comments submitted by readers will be rejected that are deemed by the editors to be damaging to the future of this web site.
(2)Comparison is made from the IP Address identity of the computer placing the posts. Some networks share these addresses between users.