THEATRE: BENT
In order to predict the future of a movement, you must study its history. That’s why, to enlighten a new wave of young gay Gen Y-ers, and remind the older generations to reflect on what’s important about the grand season of Mardi Gras 2010, organisers have chosen the theme, History of the World. The play Bent, written in 1979 by gay Jewish American playwright Martin Sherman has been brought to Sydney for the festival by director, Pete Nettell. It is a poignant portrayal that focuses attention and brings to light the treatment of homosexuals during the Third Reich who were arrested, considered vile deviants, interned in concentration camps, and then had their skins branded with what has now become a universal symbol for gay pride – the pink triangle. Bent premiered the same year it was written and starred Sir Ian McKellen in London, then went on to star Richard Gere in New York, winning the Tony Award for Best Play. Described by the English theatre critic Nicholas de Jongh as, “One of the most significant plays produced in the post-Second World War theatre” Bent was included in the Royal National theatre’s list of the 100 most significant plays of the twentieth century. Nettell tells us, “The play reminds people how they would respond in the most extreme circumstances. Bent shows that its easy to forget that we are all human. It’s about what we sacrifice in order to stay alive, how far you go when making those sacrifices before you found you’ve lost the meaning of being human.”
Feb 18-Mar 14, Belvoir St Downstairs, 25 Belvoir St Surry Hills, $24-32, 9699 3444 or belvoir.com.au
BY SCOTT WINTER
