Lovesick - Modernist Plays of Same-Sex Love, 1894-1925 (Hardcover)

This volume makes available an international collection of plays, from Britain, the US, Germany, France and Russia, providing a resource for anyone interested in the theatre culture of this period. The anthology reveals how sexual deviance made its way into the drama of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, through the creation of certain types, such as the sexual predator, the helpless victim of nature, and the decadent aesthete. At the same time, homosexual playwrights used comic or lyrical devices to celebrate their special qualities and to suggest that deviance was not pathetic or dangerous, but rather a superior sensibility, opening doors to a new and better way of life. This anthology brings together six plays from the period and individual introductions to each play, including an author biography and production history and a contextual introduction by the editor, providing valuable information about the ancestry of gay theatre and queer performance. This collection enlarges the repertory and makes available a legacy of homosexual dramas of the past.