Customer Reviews

Three Plays: Sex / The Drag / The Pleasure Man

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When Lillian Schissel edited "Three Plays by Mae West,' published in 1997, it marked the first time Sex, The Drag and The Pleasure Man had ever been printed. Long thought to be lost, the original manuscripts gathered dust at the Library of Congress. After prolonged legal wrangling with the Roger Richman Agency of Los Angeles, who at the time represented the Mae West receivership estate, a deal was finally struck to have the plays finally published.

Schissel argues that West provided one of the first role models for women suggesting they could be independent and achieve success following through on their own ambitions. When a revival of Sex was mounted in Seattle in 1998, a review noted, "What dates this show more than all the quaint wink-and nod lewdness are a couple of incredibly racist lines that I'm glad they didn't cut. At one point, Margy LaMont tells a guy there's no way he could get himself a woman, at least not a white women. Later a character tells Margy that she could make good money whoring in Trinidad "'cause all the girls down there are half black."
Times have changed when this shocks us more than humping. Even a couple of archaic racial slurs are left in, the only real shock here is that a 1927 audience wouldn't have even blinked.

The strength of Schissel's work is the research she uncovered in the case for the prosecution against Mae West in legal documents relating to the staging of Sex and The Pleasure Man. The testimoney presented during the court proceedings is fascinating to read and sheds light on the rampant homophobia at the time.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Schlissel's sleuthing is that excerpts from West's obscenity trial and disturbingly the censor's accusations sound as troubling today as they did 80 years ago. The arguments used 80 years ago to ban Mae West's bon mots are not unlike those used today to bar gay and lesbian artists from public funding and public self-expression.
Highly recommended!