Bent (play)
| Bent | |
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.jpg) Poster for the Royal National Theatre's 1990 revival of Bent, starring Sir Ian McKellen |
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| Written by | Martin Sherman |
| Characters | Max Horst Rudy Uncle Freddie Greta Officer Wolf Guards Captain |
| Date premiered | May 3, 1979 |
| Place premiered | Royal Court Theatre, London |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | The persecution of homosexuals during the holocaust |
| Setting | Berlin, 1934 following the Night of the Long Knives |
| IBDB profile | |
Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives.
The title of the play refers to the slang word "bent" used in some European countries to refer to homosexuals. When the play was first performed, there was only a small trickle of historical research or even awareness about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. In some regards, the play helped increase that historical research and education in the 1980s and 1990s.
The play starred Ian McKellen in its original 1979 West-End production, and Richard Gere in its original 1980 Broadway production. In 1989, Sean Mathias directed a revival of the play, performed as a one-night benefit for Stonewall, featuring Ian McKellen, Richard E Grant, Ian Charleson, and Ralph Fiennes. After receiving critical acclaim, Mathias directed a full run in 1990, with Ian McKellen, Paul Rhys, and Christopher Eccleston, which won the City Limits Award for Revival of the Year.
In 1997, Martin Sherman adapted Bent into a film of the same name, which was directed by Sean Mathias.
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[edit] Plot
Max, a promiscuous gay man in 1930s Berlin, is at odds with his wealthy family because of his homosexuality. One evening, much to the resentment of his boyfriend Rudy, he brings home a handsome Sturmabteilung man. Unfortunately, it is the night that Hitler orders to assassinate the upper echelon of the Sturmabteilung corps, to consolidate his power. The Sturmabteilung man is discovered and killed by SS men in Max and Rudy's apartment, and the two have to flee Berlin.
Max's uncle Freddie, who is also gay, but lives a more discreet life with rent boys to satisfy his desires, has organized new papers for Max, but Max refuses to leave his naïve boyfriend behind. As a result, Max and Rudy are found and arrested by the Gestapo and put on a train headed for Dachau concentration camp.
On the train, Rudy calls out to Max as he is taken away to be beaten, so Rudy is brought back and beaten to death by Max who denies he knows him, then Max has intercourse with the body of a dead pre-teen girl to "prove" he is not homosexual. Max has lied to the guards, telling them that he is a Jew rather than a homosexual, because he believes his chances for survival in the camp will be better if he is not assigned the pink triangle.
In the camp, Max makes friends with Horst, who shows him the dignity that lies in acknowledging what one is. They fall in love and become lovers through their imagination and through their words. After Horst is shot by camp guards, Max puts on Horst's jacket with the pink triangle and commits suicide by grabbing an electric fence.
[edit] Productions
[edit] 1980 Broadway
The show was directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, scenery by Santo Loquasto, costumes by Robert Wojewodski, lighting by Arden Fingerhut, and music by Stanley Silverman. The show featured Richard Gere as Max, David Marshall Grant as Rudy, James Remar as Wolf, Michael Gross as Greta, George Hall as Uncle Freddie, Bryan E. Clark as Officer, David Dukes as Horst, Ron Randell as Captain, and the Guards were Kai Wulff, Philip Kraus, and John Snyder.
[edit] 1981
The show made it's Seattle Premier at Empty Space Theater and ran through 1982. [1]
[edit] 2000
January 2000 presented by Theater in the Round, Minneapolis, MN [2]
[edit] 2003
July 2003: presented by Singaporean theatre company Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble, directed by Beatrice Chia [3]
[edit] 2006
December 2006: Trafalgar Studios in London, starring Alan Cumming as Max, and Chris New as Horst.
[edit] 2007
October: produced by the 13th Street Repertory Company in New York City. Directed by Joshua Chase Gold, and starring Ryan Nicholoff as Max and Jim Halloran as Horst, the production was received to strong reviews and sold out audiences.[4]
October 31-Nov 17: the Meta.for Theatre production at Performance Works in Vancouver, British Columbia, starring Sean Cummings as Max and Thrasso Petras as Horst.[5][6]
[edit] 2009
January: Bent was presented in Amarillo TX by AVENUE 10, causing the theatre to be targeted by an anti-homosexual Christian group resulting in the theatre being shut down and forced to find another venue for the show.
March: Bent made its Cincinnati debut at New Stage Collective.
May: Pandora Productions of Louisville, Kentucky.
May: presented at Stanford University by STAMP, the Stanford Theatre Activist Mobilization Project, co-sponsored by the Emma Goldman Society for Queer Liberation.
June 25–30: by Theatre Engine at the Abrams Studio Theatre in Toronto.[7]
July 9-August 15: produced by Hubris Productions at the Greenhouse Theatre in Chicago, with original music by John Kamys aka Jinx Titanic from July 9 to August 15, 2009. This production was sanctioned by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a portion of the proceeds from this show benefitted the museum.
September: The Rhodes Drama Department in South Africa presented a revival of the show as a Masters Coursework examination. This production commemorated the play's 30th anniversary.
October 29-November 22: produced by Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, California in collaboration with ion theatre company.
November: Altera Vitae Productions of Canada presented the Montreal premiere in November 2009 at L'Espace 4001. Directed by Carolyn Fe, the cast included: Christopher Moore (Max), Adam Leblanc (Rudy), Vance de Waele (Horst), Serge Turcotte (Greta), Mark Waters (Uncle Freddie), Yves Jacquier (Captain).
November: produced by Fullerton College's theatre arts department.
[edit] 2010
February–March: Focus Theatre presented a revival of Bent at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney as part of the Mardi Gras festival.
March 25: Cardinal Heenan Drama [Garlen Saldanha & Sean Hutchings] perform "Bent" In Knotty Ash Hall, Liverpool.
March: Oxford University students presented an amateur production of the show in the Keble O'Reilly Theatre.
April 27 - May 15 - Bent was performed at The Landor Theatre, London directed by Andrew Keates. Andrew Keates is the youngest director to be granted the professional rights by Martin Sherman himself to direct the play. The production was such a success, that it transferred to The Tabard Theatre, Chiswick for a further six weeks.
May 7–8: an amateur production will be presented at The Questors Theatre in Ealing, London.
May 6–16: at the Lowry Theatre in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Bent will be produced by the Actor's Theatre of Minnesota.
May 26: Kidbrooke School and Specialist Arts College, London, A-level Showcase.
June 4–13: at the Rivoli Theater in South Fallsburg, New York. "Bent" was produced by the Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop and directed by Constance S. Slater. The production starred Matt Meinsen as Max, Rich Hotaling as Horst, and Jim Pillmeier as Rudy and went on to receive 4 acting awards from The Theater Association of New York State. In addition it was recognized as the drama of the year by the Times Herald Record. The production was a gift from the Arthur A. Slater Memorial Fund.
July 6 - August 8: at the Tabard Theatre following from a production at the Landor Theatre in May.
September 3 - October 9: Long Beach Shakespeare Company, Long Beach, CA, directed by Denis McCourt, MFA.[8]
October 8-October 16 Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD directed by Linda McCulloch
[edit] 2011
March; The University of Kent
/April; El Centro College, Dallas Texas. Directed by Daniel Scott Cates. The show starred Patrick Patterson-Caroll, Benjamin Webster, Bruce Roe, Meg Hargis, Gerrardo Zubiri, Dean Armstrong and Justin Darnell.
[edit] International productions
A production in Buenos Aires, Argentina, opened on September, 2000 starring Alex Benn, Gustavo Ferrari and Gustavo Monje.
A production in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, opened on 2011 starring Augusto Zacchi, Gustavo Rodrigues,Augusto Garcia, Breno Pessurno, Miro Marques, Henrique Pinho, Vinicius Vommaro e Evandro Manchini.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.emptyspace.org/0506/aboutthespace/pastseasons.html
- ^ http://www.theatermania.com/minneapolis/shows/bent_924/
- ^ Toy Factory Press Room: The Straits Times LIFE! Review of Bent
- ^ Playbill News: Bent, with Nicholoff, Halloran, Worley and Hornsby, Begins Limited NYC Run Oct. 10
- ^ Xtra West - The gay man's Anne Frank
- ^ BCNG Portals Page (R)
- ^ Mooney on Theatre Review
- ^ Moore, Greggory. "BENT: LB SHAKESPEARE CO. FINDS THE HUMANITY IN STORY OF ITS SUPPRESSION". Greater Long Beach. http://greaterlongbeach.com/18/09/2010/bent-lb-shakespeare-co-finds-the-humanity-in-story-of-its-suppression. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
