Berto_Tony_201307_PhD .pdf - University of Guelph

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have had the effect of marginalising representations of gays, are still in place. These
practices appear more prevalent the nearer their production is to the mainstream.
In this chapter I will briefly summarise how these productions’ gay presences
appear to differ across the spectrum of production conditions. I will then look to this study’s
design, and will then briefly consider how my own experiences as a playwright inform this
study. Finally I will look to the larger consequences of what this study may mean in terms
of Canadian theatre.
Gay Sex and Gay Characterisations in Texts
The texts of these plays vary in terms of how the plays present their characters’
sexuality and the visibility of that sexuality. His Greatness is coy in its presentation of gay
themes and sexuality. Its two narratives and its coding of gay sex allow audience members
to be distanced from its gay themes. Embodied homosexualities are not seen and when
approached, the audience’s expectation is redirected. The Shooting Stage presents malemale
sexuality more overtly. Like His Greatness, Shooting at times has scenes where
homoerotic situations are developed and then thwarted, but embodied sexualities are seen in
a performance of fellatio. In Beggars, gay desire and sexuality are explicitly discussed, yet
the discussion is distanced from the audience by the script’s colourful and campy use of
language. Gay sex takes place in blackouts and thus is not staged, creating less embodied
sexualities than has The Shooting Stage. Lastly Grignard’s The Orchard Drive creates
characters that are openly and visibly gay, and actively address their own oppression. Three
of them discuss their sex lives, at times in plain language and in graphic detail. Embodied
homosexualities are openly staged in the play. In these four plays, a trend is clearly seen