Berto_Tony_201307_PhD .pdf - University of Guelph

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homoerotic feeling (and to thus come out of the closet). Grignard’s descriptions of the act
make its passion unmistakable. By reflecting on a kiss's familiarity, readers of the play that
would distance its gay sexuality as alien are likely to find transference of the kiss's semiotic
meanings between what is familiar to them and the youths in the play. If a kiss means
passion, regardless of the sex of the kissers, then passion is seen as a shared experience
between viewer and character, regardless of that character's alien-ness. In this way
homosexual kisses are made not so alien, and this may disturb or threaten the foundations
of heteronormative value systems; systems that function by keeping homosexual experience
alien and marginalised.
Conditions of Production
The play's conditions of production framed the entire theatre experience by
accentuating the script's challenges to heteronormative values, as evoked by the mayor and
his supposed local cultural norms. Much of this challenge derives from the play being
mounted outside a number of theatrical conventions. The play was produced on a notably
small budget, which affected the production's level of professionalism, and allowed for the
script's challenging and interventionist moments to be less distanced from the audience than
they would have been with conventional practices.
Script Development
As mentioned in Chapter One, playwrights often develop their scripts through a
process of workshops, readings, and meetings with dramaturges that are often arranged by
interested theatres (often with arts councils' support). Through the process of honing a work
until deemed both aesthetically and commercially ready, development can blunt, reshape or
contain potentially provocative subject matter. Grignard did not have his play developed