Not in Front of the Audience: Homosexuality on Stage [Paperback]

N. De Jongh (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415033632 | ISBN-13: 978-0415033633 | Publication Date: May 14, 1992

A pioneering study of the theatre's treatment of homosexuals and homosexuality from the 1920s to the present day. Only in the 60s did theatres confront heterosexual prejudice and in the wake of AIDS, the issue is once again highly charged.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This second recent study of homosexuality on stage is a strong complement to John M. Clum's Acting Gay ( LJ 3/1/92). Both books survey the history of modern male homosexuality in English and American drama. Clum begins his analysis in the mid-19th century, de Jongh in 1925. De Jongh addresses historical, cultural, and theatrical issues, while Clum concentrates a little more on textual analysis. Clum has an American bias, de Jongh a British one. Though both books examine many of the same plays, their slightly different focus makes them fine companions. Both are well researched, documented, and written, though de Jongh is slightly more readable. Given its American perspective, Clum's work has the edge, but not by much. If this issue is important in your library, purchase both.
- Thomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

`A lucid, well-argued and entertaining read that takes us from the prosecution of Oscar Wilde to the AIDS plays of the early-80s...' - The LIST

`Careful, detailed and important - an insider's view, with all the insight and engaging tittle-tattle that brings.' - The Times

`At long last, dramatists are proud to be openly gay. To appreciate the bravery and maturity of their achievement, you should remember their predecessors, whom Not In Front Of The Audience deftly exposes.' - The Guardian --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (May 14, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415033632
• ISBN-13: 978-0415033633
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,762,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Straight from the Inside, April 17, 2000

By 

ND Seibel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not in Front of the Audience: Homosexuality on Stage (Paperback)

Written as a study of homosexuality in the theatre, de Jongh pieces together what he feels are the pivotal gay plays of London and New York from 1925 to 1985. The survey is a pointed one as de Jongh himself admits he focuses on plays where "homosexual desire precipitates a crisis". The book moves more and more from an examination of the plays within their social and historical context to a first hand account of gay theatre history from an inside perspective. The author has been a theatre critic since 1970 and even apologizes for the shortcomings of an early review pleading "delayed innocence" - a beautiful moment for any kind of artist and a humanizing one for the critics.

At times a bit academic, the book may become a difficult read for those without a vested interest in the subject matter. For those with a vested interest, the chapters are enjoyable despite the jabs the American theatre takes in the last two chapters. De Jongh easily journeys from "the deviant, the damned and the dandified" through the birth of a positive gay identity and ultimately to "the return of the outcast" during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Difficult or not, it is a book that should be read by anyone involved in the theatre and especially those who claim a gay identity there. Don't look for lesbians though, they are unfortunately absent.

Other titles of interest: Carl Miller's Stages of Desire and Vito Russo's The Celluloid Closet