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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 1, 2024 14:23:38 GMT
I am doing some research into queer theatre ahead of a new launch next year.
Whilst I am fairly well versed in gay plays, I am struggling to find plays written by lesbian writers or exploring the lesbian lived experience.
I know that female writers have never had easy access to the stage compared to their male counterparts. And so a disparity in inevitable given the history of theatre.
I know the big titles such as The Killing of Sister George, The Children's Hour, Boston Marriage.
But there has to be more out there and so I thought I would appeal to the hive mind that is our community here to seek suggestions.
Thanks in advance.
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4,804 posts
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Post by Mark on Oct 1, 2024 14:29:32 GMT
Have you looked at Paula Vogel/Indecent and also God of Vengence? That's the one that springs to mind
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Post by amyja89 on Oct 1, 2024 14:37:58 GMT
Es & Flo by Jennifer Lunn and Stop Kiss by Diana Son come to mind.
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Post by aloysius on Oct 1, 2024 14:54:34 GMT
Fun Home if you're including musicals.
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Post by marob on Oct 1, 2024 15:53:17 GMT
A couple of years ago Theatr Clwyd produced Celebrated Virgins by Katie Elin-Salt, a modern take on the story of ‘the Ladies of Llangollen,’ two women who are assumed to have been in a relationship back in the 18th century.
When I saw it I was struck by how few stories there are about lesbians compared to gay men.
I didn’t see it but there was an adaptation of Sarah Waters’s The Night Watch at the Royal Exchange.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 1, 2024 16:08:12 GMT
Thanks all for the suggestions so far. Please keep them coming.
Certainly opening my eyes to new possibilities.
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Post by happysooz2 on Oct 1, 2024 17:40:17 GMT
Fun Home if you're including musicals. came here to say this 😹😹😹 |
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Post by max on Oct 1, 2024 18:05:29 GMT
There was an excellent programme on Jackie Kay, on BBC 1 last week; it's quite a story. The first play I saw of Gay Sweatshop was Jackie Kay's play 'Twice Over' (1988). It featured a young Adjoa Andoh, and Cleo Syvestre who died recently. "A 17 year old Black girl gets to know her grandmother after she has died. Through photographs and flashbacks she discovers her grandmother’s concealed secrets and gets to know herself better. The play deals with school-age girls discovering lesbianism". Here's the BBC iplayer link for 'In My Own Words: Jackie Kay' www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023998 |
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Post by kate8 on Oct 1, 2024 18:47:55 GMT
Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner.
Out of Water by Zoe Cooper.
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4,214 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Oct 1, 2024 19:38:56 GMT
Not necessarily a lesbian play, but a play written by a lesbian- Steaming.
A play about a group of women- six in total, including a mother and an adult daughter with special needs- who regularly meet at a steam bathhouse.
Don't forget the lesbian relationship in the musical Rent.
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Post by happysooz2 on Oct 1, 2024 21:13:33 GMT
The PowerBook by Jeanette Winterson? (Not that she ever writes anything that’s straightforward lesbian experience…)
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5,062 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Oct 2, 2024 1:45:56 GMT
The play ‘The Writer’ that played the Almeida a couple of years ago had a very graphic Lesbian scene
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Post by fiyerorocher on Oct 2, 2024 9:21:08 GMT
The Captive by Édouard Bourdet is one of the first that made it to Broadway. It had a short run in 1926 before being shut down.
Then, in terms of recent additions:
Cowboys and Lesbians by Billie Esplen was masterfully acted at Park Theatre earlier this year.
Lauryn Redding's Bloody Elle is a one-woman play with some music, but definitely not a musical.
Wendy Beckett's Sappho is also an option, although not one I recommend.
Northanger Abbey by Zoe Cooper could also be on the list.
Plus arguably Isobel McArthur's Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) - all the characters are played by women so even the 'straight' relationships are queered, and there is also a sapphic character.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 2, 2024 13:28:09 GMT
More fascinating suggestions. I shall certainly be adding some of these into the mix. I am particularly thrilled to learn more about the earlier plays as they are so little known these days. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drag_(play) was a piece I had never encountered until a few weeks ago as my research kicked up a gear! So more early stuff would be fab if people know of any more |
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Post by coffeeee on Oct 2, 2024 14:04:48 GMT
The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs by Iman Qureshi.
Bloody Elle by Lauryn Redding.
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235 posts
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Post by Jane Parfitt on Oct 3, 2024 8:38:29 GMT
Dare we mention The Colour Purple?! 🫣
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 3, 2024 9:10:48 GMT
Dare we mention The Colour Purple?! 🫣 I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it... |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Oct 4, 2024 6:51:58 GMT
Last Summer at Bluefish Cove
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Post by anthony40 on Oct 5, 2024 9:13:20 GMT
There’s also the Lesbian couple in the musical Fallsettoa
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5 posts
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Post by LDN_Theatreland on Oct 5, 2024 10:45:23 GMT
Rotterdam - Jon Brittain
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1,127 posts
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Oct 15, 2024 14:54:24 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 15, 2024 16:47:00 GMT
Well there we are. An opportunity to learn something new.
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531 posts
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Post by wiggymess on Oct 16, 2024 19:58:27 GMT
Turkey - Frankie Meredith
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