035 Queer Theatre

Convener: David Green

Participants: Martin, Mark Trezona, Brian Lobel, Liam O’Driscoll and others.


Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

Asked a number of questions:

What is queer theatre?
How does it differ from gay theatre?
What good and bad queer theatre have you seen?
What queer / gay theatre interests you / would you like to see?
Does queer / gay theatre have to be inclusive?
Are there problems of queer performers being pigeonholed / ghettoized?
What opportunities are there for queer writers and performers?

Discussion / comments:

The term demands ‘visibility’.

The ‘love that dare not speak its name’ has become the ‘love that need not speak its name’. Do we need to give voice to our desires? Or do we avoid stating them explicitly? If so, what is the motivation behind this?

What is the point of queer theatre? Do we need to hear our own stories? Is there still a lot of work to do politically? Is putting our stories in a public space a political act? If our stories become part of the mainstream, do we become invisible by assimilation? Do we need to keep pushing boundaries?

Queer theatre is not necessary about sexual identity, but about perception and one’s relationship with the ‘normal’ world.

Are we as accepted as we think we are? Are we well-represented? Are gay characters in theatre 3-dimensional and realistic? Do they need to be? Do we want gay characters to be in classical theatre, which may be viewed as a heterosexual art form, or do we explore other queerer artistic forms?