LGBTQ theatre (also known as gay, lesbian, or queer theatre) is based on the lives of LGBTQ people and their culture. Subsets of LGBTQ theatre may focus on the experiences of specific populations, such as gay men, lesbians, or trans people. Collectively, LGBTQ theatre forms a part of LGBTQ culture.
Famous examples of LGBTQ theatre include the musical Rent by Jonathan Larson and the play Bent by Martin Sherman.
History of LGBTQ theatre
Ancient Greece In Ancient Greece, homosexuality was considered normal and was promoted in some settings. In Thebes, it was actively practiced and legally "incentivized". The theater was considered a "tool to promote society's values", and homosexuality was showcased in these plays. In Aristophanes' play The Knights, the protagonist Agoracritus openly admits to having been a "passive" partner.Aristophanes. Knights. 1255 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.Thesmophoriazusae lines 383–530 As the play is a comedy, many have interpreted the character as humorous.
Pre-20th century Due to both social and legal discrimination, LGBTQ themes were hidden from theatrical audiences in the centuries following the downfall of Ancient Greece and leading up to the 20th century. However, there are examples of LGBTQ playwrights before 1900, such as Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), who imbued their theatrical works with their personality while keeping their sexual orientation a secret. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the idea of homosexuality was not only stigmatized, but also criminalized in many places around the world. In the UK before 1861, the punishment for the act of sodomy was execution. Additionally, there was a shift in the understanding of homosexuality in the 18th century where to "commit sodomy" became no longer simply an act but a larger stain on one's entire identity, making one a "sodomite". It would have been incredibly dangerous for playwrights, actors, producers, or anyone involved in a theatrical production to put on a play with homosexual characters during those years.
However, gender-bending has a long theatrical tradition. In the era of Shakespeare, men would play women's roles in theatre. Women were not allowed to be actors, so men would dress up like women to portray female characters in the plays. This continued until the 19th century, when the popularisation of opera allowed women to act on stage.
Mid-20th century
United States
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 in 1964. It was the longest-running show at the Caffe Cino, being performed over 200 times to packed houses.
Four years later, the first LGBTQ play to be on Off-Broadway, was performed, The Boys in the Band. 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.
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. The story surrounds a middle-aged homosexual couple who learn how deep their love truly is after navigating obstacles. The play was groundbreaking because of the characterizations 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.
Late 20th-21st century
United States The mid-20th century saw the rise of LGBTQ plays and their popularization. Even with the stigma around the LGBTQ community, especially with the rise of the AIDS epidemic, LGBTQ pride and media were becoming mainstream. Plays, TV shows, and films about LGBT-identifying people were becoming common in mainstream 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, was performed over 5,000 times, and ran for 12 years. 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, The Prom, and A Strange Loop.
Legacy 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 references for their projects. A prominent play that has been cited as "influential" was one of the first, The Boys in the Band, which became prominent throughout the U.S. when it came out for being the "most frank description of being gay", and instantly received both praise and criticism. The play, for many, was cited as their first time being exposed to homosexuality. In 2018, in an article in The New York Times, 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. 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." The play was revived with two other gay "classics", Angels in America and Torch Song Trilogy.
LGBTQ theatre around the world
Background 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 a country's or region's legal and cultural tolerance of the LGBTQ community.
Africa LGBTQ theatre has emerged in African countries such as Cape Verde, Ghana, South Africa, and Tunisia.
South Africa South African contemporary theatre has included a number of pieces involving LGBTQ characters and themes since at least the 1990s. Early LGBTQ theatre in South Africa aimed both to represent and resonate with LGBTQ audiences, and to educate straight audience on LGBTQ topics.
Johannesburg's Market Theatre has put on a number of LGBTQ theatre works. In 2023, it hosted the premiere of Vogue Opera, an opera based on the life of South African LGBTQ rights activist Simon Nkoli.
Tunisia In 2022, Tunisia's first LGBTQ play, Flagranti, was staged in Tunis by the group Mawjoudin. In addition to the oppression and violence faced by LGBTQ Tunisians, the work also addresses "police and judicial corruption, impunity and...brain drain". At the time of Flagranti's premiere, same-sex sexual relations remained illegal in the country.
Asia LGBTQ theatre is generally less prominent in Asia than on other continents.
South Asia The tradition of men playing women's roles has a "long history" in the theatrical traditions of South Asia, being mentioned both in Patanjali's Mahabhashya and in the Natya Shastra . In contemporary tradition, female impersonation is still practiced in the dance/theatre forms of Kathakali (Kerala) and Ramlila (Uttar Pradesh), among others, but has "vanished from the urban cultural zone".
Taiwan Within Taiwan, cultural conservatism continues to impact the LGBTQ community. However, since the lifting of martial law in the country, queer theater has become more popular. One notable figure in Taiwanese LGBTQ theatre is Lai Sheng-Chuan, a playwright who has both popularized LGBTQ theatre and criticized the government.
The first known queer theatre company in Taiwan was Maoshi, which was established in 1988 by Tian ChiYuan, who later died from AIDS. Tian used theatre to fight both homophobia and stigma against AIDS during times of extreme conservatism. Some of Tian's most known plays are adaptations of Whitewater and Legend of the white Snake, which were both centered around homoerotic love, a topic unseen in public during the 1990s. After Tian's death, people have continued to create adaptations of Whitewater because of its symbolism of queer trauma.
Turkey From the 2010s to the 2020s, trans women have become more prominent in Turkey's alternative theatre spheres, both as creators of works and as subjects of works. However, beyond the smaller productions helmed by trans women, which are "characterized by themes of hope and resistance", theatrical representations of trans women have largely been produced by cisgender actors and creators, with a focus on "trans women's suffering", "often [ending] with the main character's death".
Europe Like the U.S., Europe generally has a more progressive view on LGBTQ theatre and has been accepting of the LGBTQ community. In Europe, LGBTQ-related theatre dates back to the 6th century BC in Ancient Greece, when men played women's parts because women were not yet allowed to play such roles.
Estonia Following an end to theatre censorship following the Singing Revolution and the country's independence in 1991, Estonian theatre began to explore formerly taboo themes of gender and sexuality, and "[embraced] LGBTQ+ themes, characters, and aesthetics".
United Kingdom Some Shakespeare plays have been identified as having LGBTQ themes, such as As You Like It and Twelfth Night, both of which have female characters who crossdress as men and enter into flirtatious interactions with women.
In the UK, restrictions on LGBTQ theatre existed into the 20th century. 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. However, some of those restrictions would later be lifted, and in the 21st century many LGBTQ plays have been performed.
British theatre companies with a specific focus on LGBTQ works include Above the Stag Theatre, Aputheatre, Gay Sweatshop, and Milk Presents.
North America
Canada In the Canadian province of Quebec, LGBTQ playwrights in the 1980s and 1990s saw success in marketing gay and lesbian-related theatre to mixed audiences of both LGBTQ and straight people.
Canadian theatre companies with a specific focus on LGBTQ works include Buddies in Bad Times, and the Frank Theatre Company.
United States 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 from controversy. Some American LGBTQ shows include Rent, an adaptation of La bohème, which follows a group of friends during the AIDS crisis; and The Prom by Chad Beguelin, which follows a teenage girl trying to bring her girlfriend to the prom in a conservative town in Indiana. LGBTQ-related plays and musicals are present on Broadway, and they are also put on across the country in smaller regional and community venues. The U.S. is also home to some theatre companies that primarily focus on LGBTQ-related works, including Celebration Theatre, The Five Lesbian Brothers, Pomo Afro Homos, Split Britches, StageQ, The Theater Offensive, Theatre Rhinoceros, Triangle Productions, and the Triangle Theater Company.
Oceania
Australia By the mid-1990s, the "divisions between gay and mainstream theatre" were "increasingly blurred" in Australia; however, academics noted that LGBTQ representation in Australian plays and musicals was largely limited to gay men.