Mainstream AIDS Theatre, the Media, and Gay Civil Rights
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Mainstream AIDS Theatre, the Media, and Gay Civil Rights This book demonstrates the political potential of mainstream theatre in the U.S. at the end of the twentieth century, tracing ideological change over time in the reception of U.S. mainstream plays taking HIV/AIDS as their topic from 1985 to 2000. This is the first study to combine the top- ics of the politics of performance, LGBT theatre, and mainstream theatre’s political potential, a juxtaposition that shows how radical ideas become mainstream, that is, how the dominant ideology changes. Using materialist semiotics and extensive archival research, Juntunen delineates the cultural history of four pivotal productions from that period—Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart (1985), Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (1992), Jonathan Larson’s Rent (1996), and Moises Kaufman’s The Laramie Project (2000). Examining the connection of AIDS, mainstream theatre, and the media reveals key systems at work in ideological change over time during a deadly epidemic whose effects changed the nation forever. Employing media the- ory alongside nationalism studies and utilizing dozens of reviews for each case study, the volume demonstrates that reviews are valuable evidence of how a production was hailed by society’s ideological gatekeepers. Mixing this new use of reviews alongside textual analysis and material study—such as the theaters’ locations, architectures, merchandise, program notes, and advertising—creates an uncommonly rich description of these productions and their ideological effects. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of theatre, politics, media studies, queer theory, and U.S. history, and to those with an interest in gay civil rights, one of the most successful social movements of the late twentieth century. Jacob Juntunen is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theater and in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Southern Illinois University, USA. Routledge Advances in Theatre and Performance Studies For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com. 13 The Provocation of the Senses 21 Political and Protest Theatre in Contemporary Theatre after 9/11 Stephen Di Benedetto Patriotic Dissent Edited by Jenny Spencer 14 Ecology and Environment in European Drama 22 Religion, Theatre, and Downing Cless Performance Acts of Faith 15 Global Ibsen Edited by Lance Gharavi Performing Multiple Modernities 23 Adapting Chekhov Edited by Erika Fischer-Lichte, The Text and its Mutations Barbara Gronau, and Christel Edited by J. Douglas Clayton & Weiler Yana Meerzon 16 The Theatre of the Bauhaus 24 Performance and the Politics The Modern and Postmodern of Space Stage of Oskar Schlemmer Theatre and Topology Melissa Trimingham Edited by Erika Fischer-Lichte and Benjamin Wihstutz 17 Feminist Visions and Queer Futures in Postcolonial 25 Music and Gender in English Drama Renaissance Drama Community, Kinship, and Katrine K. Wong Citizenship Kanika Batra 26 The Unwritten Grotowski Theory and Practice of the 18 Nineteenth-Century Theatre Encounter and the Imperial Encounter Kris Salata Marty Gould 27 Dramas of the Past on the 19 The Theatre of Richard Twentieth-Century Stage Maxwell and the New York In History’s Wings City Players Alex Feldman Sarah Gorman 28 Performance, Identity and the 20 Shakespeare, Theatre and Neo-Political Subject Time Edited by Matthew Causey and Matthew D. Wagner Fintan Walsh 29 Theatre Translation in 37 The Politics and the Reception Performance of Rabindranath Tagore’s Drama Edited by Silvia Bigliazzi, The Bard on the Stage Peter Kofler, and Paola Edited by Arnab Bhattacharya Ambrosi and Mala Renganathan 30 Translation and Adaptation in 38 Representing China on the Theatre and Film Historical London Stage Edited by Katja Krebs From Orientalism to Intercultural Performance 31 Grotowski, Women, and Dongshin Chang Contemporary Performance Meetings with Remarkable 39 Play, Performance, and Identity Women How Institutions Structure Virginie Magnat Ludic Spaces Edited by Matt Omasta and 32 Art, Vision, and Nineteenth- Drew Chappell Century Realist Drama Acts of Seeing 40 Performance and Phenomenology Amy Holzapfel Traditions and Transformations Edited by Maaike Bleeker, 33 The Politics of Interweaving Jon Foley Sherman, and Eirini Performance Cultures Nedelkopoulou Beyond Postcolonialism Edited by Erika Fischer-Lichte, 41 Historical Affects and the Early Torsten Jost and Saskya Modern Theater Iris Jain Edited by Ronda Arab, Michelle M. Dowd, and Adam Zucker 34 Theatre and National Identity Re-Imagining Conceptions of 42 Food and Theatre on the Nation World Stage Edited by Nadine Holdsworth Edited by Dorothy Chansky and Ann Folino White 35 Nationalism and Youth in Theatre and Performance 43 Global Insights on Theatre Edited by Angela Sweigart- Censorship Gallagher and Victoria Edited by Catherine O’Leary, Pettersen Lantz Diego Santos Sánchez & Michael Thompson 36 Performing Asian Transnationalisms 44 Mainstream AIDS Theatre, the Theatre, Identity and the Media, and Gay Civil Rights Geographies of Performance Making the Radical Palatable Amanda Rogers Jacob Juntunen This page intentionally left blank Mainstream AIDS Theatre, the Media, and Gay Civil Rights Making the Radical Palatable Jacob Juntunen First published 2016 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 Taylor & Francis The right of Jacob Juntunen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Juntunen, Jacob. Title: Mainstream AIDS theatre, the media, and gay civil rights: making the radical palatable / by Jacob Juntunen. Description: New York: Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge advances in theatre and performance studies; 44 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015038257 Subjects: LCSH: Gays and the performing arts—United States. | Homosexuality in the theater—United States. | Theater—United States— History—20th century. | American drama—20th century—History and criticism. | Homosexuality in literature. | AIDS (Disease) in literature. Classification: LCC PN1590.G39 J86 2016 | DDC 791.086/640973—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038257 ISBN: 978-1-138-94172-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-67355-4 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by codeMantra For the dead This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 Repairing Reality 14 2 Resistance: The Normal Heart 32 3 Assimilation: Angels in America 60 4 Commercialization: Rent 97 5 Normalization: The Laramie Project 125 6 Conclusion: Does It Get Better? 163 Index 177 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This book developed over a period of 15 years, so any acknowledgment section is bound to be incomplete. But even before this project began, the faculty at Clackamas Community College (CCC) gave me a home when I needed one, particularly Sue Mach, Kay Davis, and Allen Widerburg. CCC’s student writers’ group offered me a place to hone my creative writing, which led to my becoming a playwright—something I could never have foreseen. Without that, I would never have even considered the questions of main- stream theatre’s effect on society. At Reed College, my professors demonstrated what an academic life could be, often generously opening their homes to me. Of these, I am especially grateful to Lisa Steinman, Gail Sherman, and Roger Porter for hospitality and patience. I still return to William Ray’s literary theory course pack, without doubt one of the most significant seminars I ever experienced. I am also indebted to my fellow undergraduates, too many to name. At the time, I thought my peers and I engaged in scholarship, but I now see it was the seri- ous play of youth that trained me for what is, I hope, more mature thought. At Northwestern University there are again too many generous peers to thank, but I need to single out my doctoral cohort, Sheila Moeschen and Shelly Scott, for crucial moral and emotional support. I was also lucky to meet Jyoti Argade, Rashida Braggs, Suk-Young Kim, Christina McMahon, Lauren McConnell, Jeffrey McCune, Stefka Mihaylova, Jesse Njus, Natsu Onoda Power, Sam O’Connel, Coya Paz, Elaine Peña, Tamara Roberts, Emily Sahakian, Rashida Shaw, Jon Sherman, Ioana Szeman, Jennifer Tybursczy, Anne Folino White, and Katie Zien. However, without my most dedicated reader at Northwestern, Dan Smith, much of whatever insight this book contains would not exist. As for faculty during my time at Northwestern, many made a lasting impression on me, but this book’s ideas owe most to Jennifer Devere Brody, Scott Curtis, Susan Herbst, Craig Kinzer, Chuck Kleinhans, Lisa Merrill, Sandra Richards, Anna D. Shapiro, Harvey Young, and, of course, Tracy C. Davis, whose rigor still serves a constant, unattainable benchmark for me. The University of