Acts of Gaiety: LGBT Performance and the Politics of Pleasure PDF
Preview Acts of Gaiety: LGBT Performance and the Politics of Pleasure
Acts of Gaiety Acts of Gaiety LGBT Performance and the Politics of Pleasure Sara Warner The University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2012 All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid- free paper 2015 2014 2013 2012 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Warner, Sara. Acts of gaiety : LGBT performance and the politics of pleasure / Sara Warner. p. cm.— (Triangulations: lesbian/gay/queer theater/drama/performance) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 472- 11853- 3 (cloth : acid- free paper)— ISBN 978- 0- 472- 02875- 7 (e- book) 1. Gay theater— United States. 2. Homosexuality and theater. 3. Gays and the performing arts. I. Title. PN2270.G39W37 2013 792.086'640973— dc23 2012025917 To Mary Jo Watts a continuous source of strength and guidance, and without whose unflinching loyalty, devotion and faith, this book could never have been written Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction 1 1. “Scummy” Acts: Valerie Solanas’s Theater of the Ludicrous 31 2. Guerrilla Acts: Marriage Protests, 1969 and 2009 72 3. Expatriate Acts: Jill Johnston’s Joker Citizenship 105 4. Terrorist Acts: The Maladapted Hothead Paisan, a Lesbian Comedy of Terrors 139 5. Unnatural Acts: The Tragic Consequences of Homoliberalism in the Five Lesbian Brothers’ Oedipus at Palm Springs 163 Afterword 189 Notes 195 Bibliography 231 Index 249 Preface At approximately 7:00 p.m. on May 1, 1970, just moments after Kate Millett, chairwoman of the National Organization for Women (NOW), called to or- der the second annual gathering of feminist groups from across the country, the lights in the auditorium at Intermediate School 70 on West Seventeenth Street in Manhattan went out, plunging the audience of three hundred ac- tivists into total darkness. One of the conference coordinators fumbled her way to the podium to ask everyone to remain calm and seated while they determined the cause of the power outage, only to discover that the micro- phone, too, had gone dead. A commotion erupted in the back of the room, and a group of people, some emitting rebel yells, ran down the aisle toward the stage. The lights came back on to reveal a phalanx of women, fists raised, wearing purple T- shirts with “Lavender Menace” stenciled across the front. Some held placards that read “Women’s liberation is a lesbian plot,” “Take a lesbian to lunch,” and “We are your worst nightmare, your best fantasy.” The audience, visibly shaken, denounced the demonstrators for comman- deering the meeting to promote their lesbian agenda. Millett, who had been informed in advance of the protest, urged the crowd to listen to the women. One of the insurgents, Rita Mae Brown, stepped forward and addressed the assembly. A well- known firebrand and philanderer, Brown had recently staged a public resignation from her position as the NOW newsletter editor in response to the organization’s attempt to purge lesbians from its roster. Surveying the spectators as if she were cruising a Greenwich Village bar, Brown asked, “Does anyone want to join us?” This was the cue for Karla Jay, who was planted in the audience, to jump up and scream, “Yes, yes, sisters! I’m tired of being in the closet because of the women’s movement.”1 As
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