Bent and the Staging of the Queer Holocaust Experience

Abstract

Bent caused controversy when it opened at London’s Royal Court Theatre on 3 May 1979. Written by Martin Sherman, a gay, Jewish-American playwright, the play was the first to deal with the Nazi persecution of gay men specifically: set in the 1930s, it centres upon protagonist Max and his persecution and imprisonment by the Nazis for being a gay man. While Bent has been hailed as ‘ground-breaking’ and is viewed positively for its exposition of an unexamined element of gay Holocaust history, the play was widely detested by British theatre critics in 1979. But upon Bent’s revival in 1990, its critical reception was completely reversed. Why did Bent cause such critical derision in 1979, even while audiences loved it? Why was it received so well 11 years later?