Conversations, dispatches and ideas from the Bush Theatre.
This month we’re looking back on some of the best gay plays ever made in honour of the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales and LGBT History Month in the UK.
by Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig (1932-90), an Argentinian playwright and novelist, wanted to convey an objective view of homosexuality in his novel 1976 novel El beso de la mujer araña. It’s a harrowing story of persecution written in an experimental style without a narrator and with footnotes on the psychology of homosexuality. Set in Villa Devoto prison, Buenos Aires, it depicts the alliance of two cellmates – a gay man, Molina, and a Marxist revolutionary, Valentin.
Simon Callow in Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1985) Photo: Nobby Clark
The stage adaption of Kiss of the Spiderwoman was written in 1983 and premiered at the Bush in 1985 as an English translation by Allan Baker. The play is interrupted by off-stage scenes and voice overs.
Simon Callow (Molina) and Mark Rylance (Valentin) starred in its first production. Simon Stokes, now Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Plymouth, directed. It went on to become a hit film starring William Hurt who won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Molina – the first to be awarded to an American for the portrayal of a homosexual. It became a musical in 1992.
Original Production Credits (1985)
Designer: Robin Don
Lighting Designer: Paul Denby
Sound Designer: Bart Cossee
Set Builder: Rosie Wakley
Production photos by Nobby Clark
Last blog, last week: Angels in America
Interested in LGBT lives on stage? Come see Hir by Taylor Mac or Of Kith and Kin by Chris Thompson in 2017.
