
Straight Acting
Popular Gay Drama from Wilde to Rattigan
Sean O'Connor(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Published on 6. October 2016
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-4742-8827-9 (ISBN)
Description
Between the trials of Oscar Wilde in the 1890s and the beginnings of legal reforms in the 1960s, the West End stage was dominated by the work of gay playwrights. Many of their plays, such as Private Lives, Blithe Spirit and The Deep Blue Sea are established classics and continue to inform our culture. In this fascinating book, covering both familiar and lesser-known works, Sean O'Connor examines the legacy of Wilde as a playwright and as a gay man, and explores in the works of Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward and Terence Rattigan the resonance of Wilde's agenda for tolerance and his creed of individuality. O'Connor contextualises these plays against the enormous social and historical changes of the twentieth century. He also examines the legal restrictions which regulated the personal lives of these writers and required them to evolve sophisticated strategies in order to express on stage, albeit obliquely, their dilemmas as gay men.
From the delicate homoerotic frissons of Rattigan's early comedies to Coward's defiantly pro-sex stance, Straight Acting is a provocative and witty insight into the subtly subversive tactics of gay writers working in that apparently most conservative of forms, the 'well-made play'.
From the delicate homoerotic frissons of Rattigan's early comedies to Coward's defiantly pro-sex stance, Straight Acting is a provocative and witty insight into the subtly subversive tactics of gay writers working in that apparently most conservative of forms, the 'well-made play'.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
578 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4742-8827-9 (9781474288279)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2016
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€133.99
Available for download
Person
Sean O'Connor works for the BBC, where he is Editor for The Archers.
Content
Introduction
1. Oscar and After
2. Somerset Maugham, Warts and All
3. Public Lives, Private Faces
4. Sentimental Education
5. Brief encounters
6. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Epilogue
Chronology
Notes
Index
1. Oscar and After
2. Somerset Maugham, Warts and All
3. Public Lives, Private Faces
4. Sentimental Education
5. Brief encounters
6. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Epilogue
Chronology
Notes
Index