Three Plays by Mae West: Sex, The Drag and Pleasure Man [Hardcover]

Lillian Schlissel (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0415909325 | ISBN-13: 978-0415909327 | Edition: Reissue

Mae West, wise-cracking vaudeville performer, was one of the most controversial figures of her era. Rarely, however, do people think of Mae West as a writer. In Three Plays By Mae West, Lillian Schlissel brings this underexplored part of West's career to the fore by offering for the first time in book form, three of the plays West wrote in the 1920s--Sex (1926), The Drag (1927) and Pleasure Man (1928). With an insightful introduction by Schlissel, this book offers a unique look into to the life and early career of this legendary stage and screen actress.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

How many movie buffs know that Mae West was as much a writer as she was a performer--and that she was a soulful woman of originality, courage, and integrity, boldly going against the moral grain of her times by portraying independent, sexually confident women and presenting homosexuals as people worthy of respect? This volume gives a glimpse of the real Mae West by publishing her three radical, melodramatic, but quite hilarious plays for the first time. They were staged between 1926 and 1928, but each production was closed down, leading to West's arrest and several high-profile court appearances, during which she fought obscenity charges with pride and conviction. It is easy to see why these startling plays outraged the authorities but delighted audiences. West uses the peppery argot of her native ground, the streets of Brooklyn and New York, to great effect, while tackling truly hard-hitting themes. In "Sex" a whore falls in love and goes straight; "The Drag" depicts a love triangle involving a homosexual, his naive and miserable heterosexual wife, and a man they both find attractive; and "The Pleasure Man" explores the dire implications of outrageous promiscuity. It's true that West was no angel: she was an artist and a woman of conviction and honor. Donna Seaman

Review

...in a useful introduction, Schissel does a fine, readable history of both West and the theater of her day. ...these plays...are fascinating windows into another time. -- Windy City Times
This volume gives a glimpse of the real Mae West by publishing her three radical, melodramatic, but quite hilarious plays for the first time. -- Booklist
No mere strutting sexpot, West's capacity for scathing satire comes into full view in Three Plays by Mae West, edited by Lillian Schlissel...Filled with the saucy argot of the New York streets, the plays still crackle and cook. -- Publisher's Weekly
These plays are important, original and fun. Anyone interested in theatre and gender is going to have a new and bold face to deal with. -- Michael Cadden, Director of the Program in Theatre and Dance, Princeton University Mae West was many things-sexual outlaw, wildcat feminist, actress, icon. The publication of these plays proves that she was more complex than her movies suggest. The only thing she did straightforwardly was to insist that her convictions were worth fighting for...She was as close as any woman has ever come to being one of the great American queens.
...we can look back at Mae West with new eyes, and admire the fun she had with sex and the control she exercised on her image and her career. -- The Boston Book Review
I would recommend this book to anyone interested either in the history of gay theatre in America or in how gays were perceived in the early decades of the twentieth century. -- Marsh Cassady, Lambda Book Report

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; Reissue edition (August 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415909325
• ISBN-13: 978-0415909327
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,859,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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