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This book was one of many that were seized in 1984 from the first gay bookshop in London, or anywhere in the UK, Gay's The Word as part of a policy of intimidation against 'uppity' gays and I am posting information on this event against many of the books seized by the police.
That in 1985 the plays were being performed in a mainstream London theatre shows how insane this raid on Gay's The Word was.
This is a history that should not be forgotten.
Torch Song Trilogy and the 1984 attempt to destroy 'Gay's The Word' the UK's first gay bookshop:
This novel was one of many 'imported' gay books which were at the centre of an infamous attempt to push UK gays back into the closet by the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1984. Amazingly this event, important not only for gays but civil liberties in the UK, does not have any kind of Wikipedia entry. Because of this lack I have assembled links to a number of sites which anyone interested in free speech should read. If we don't remember our history we will be condemned to repeat it.
The genesis of the prosecution of 'Gays The Word' was the anger of homophobes to books like 'The Milkman's On His Way' by David Rees which were written for young people and presented being gay as ordinary and nothing to get your-knickers-in-a-twist over. Unfortunately there was no way to ban the offending books because censorship of literature had been laughed out of court at the 'Lady Chatterley Trial' nearly twenty years earlier. But Customs and Excise did have the ability to seize and forbid the import of 'foreign' books, those not published in the UK. As most 'gay' books came from abroad, specifically the USA, this anomaly was the basis for the raid on Gays The Word and the seizure of large amounts of stock. The intention was that the legal costs, plus the disruption to the business, would sink this small independent bookshop long before it came to trial. That it didn't is testimony to the resilience of Gay's The Word, the gay community and all those who supported them.
The best, not perfect, but only, guide to the event is at:
https://www.gayinthe80s.com/2012/10/1...
There follows a series of links to the event connected with an exhibition at the University of London:
The background:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The 142 books seized:
https://exhibitions.london.ac.uk/s/se...
The history of the prosecution:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The fight to clarify the law after the prosecution was dropped:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
That in 1985 the plays were being performed in a mainstream London theatre shows how insane this raid on Gay's The Word was.
This is a history that should not be forgotten.
Torch Song Trilogy and the 1984 attempt to destroy 'Gay's The Word' the UK's first gay bookshop:
This novel was one of many 'imported' gay books which were at the centre of an infamous attempt to push UK gays back into the closet by the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1984. Amazingly this event, important not only for gays but civil liberties in the UK, does not have any kind of Wikipedia entry. Because of this lack I have assembled links to a number of sites which anyone interested in free speech should read. If we don't remember our history we will be condemned to repeat it.
The genesis of the prosecution of 'Gays The Word' was the anger of homophobes to books like 'The Milkman's On His Way' by David Rees which were written for young people and presented being gay as ordinary and nothing to get your-knickers-in-a-twist over. Unfortunately there was no way to ban the offending books because censorship of literature had been laughed out of court at the 'Lady Chatterley Trial' nearly twenty years earlier. But Customs and Excise did have the ability to seize and forbid the import of 'foreign' books, those not published in the UK. As most 'gay' books came from abroad, specifically the USA, this anomaly was the basis for the raid on Gays The Word and the seizure of large amounts of stock. The intention was that the legal costs, plus the disruption to the business, would sink this small independent bookshop long before it came to trial. That it didn't is testimony to the resilience of Gay's The Word, the gay community and all those who supported them.
The best, not perfect, but only, guide to the event is at:
https://www.gayinthe80s.com/2012/10/1...
There follows a series of links to the event connected with an exhibition at the University of London:
The background:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The 142 books seized:
https://exhibitions.london.ac.uk/s/se...
The history of the prosecution:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
The fight to clarify the law after the prosecution was dropped:
https://www.london.ac.uk/news-events/...
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Quite simply a masterpiece. Other than Angels in America, this play brought the truths of gay life to the stage.
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Starts off kinda wish fulfillment, then it won me over in the end, can see why it won Harvey the Tony.
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(originally reviewed at n elphareads.tumblr.comn)
I am a former theater kid, who still really enjoys going to the theater and reading plays. I have an especially soft spot for GLBT themed plays, with my favorites being ANGELS IN AMERICA, THE NORMAL HEART, and THE LARAMIE PROJECT. I had heard of TORCH SONG TRILOGY by Harvey Fierstein, and had even rented the movie from Netflix, though I didn’t finish it because I knew that things were going to get sad, and wasn’t in an emotional place for it at the time. I knew about the tragedy in it, and I knew about the big ‘queers don’t love!’ speech and I just couldn’t handle it. But recently I decided that I wanted to at the very least read it, and put in a request for it at my neighborhood library. It is, after all, considered a classic in the gay theater scene, so it was time for me to read it.
TORCH SONG TRILOGY follows the characters of Arnold and Ed. Mostly Arnold. Arnold is a drag queen in New York who is verbose and effervescent, while Ben is an older bisexual man who is ashamed of his attraction to men, though he is in love with Arnold. The three acts are separate one act plays put into one. The first is Arnold and Ed’s relationship, with Ed struggling. The second is a few years later with Arnold and his new boyfriend Alan visiting Ed and his lover Laurel, as Arnold and Alan solidify their love and commitment to each other. The third is a few years after that with Arnold raising a foster son, a gay teenager named David, while juggling his feelings for Ed, a terrible loss, and a visit from his judgmental mother.
It took me a little time to get into this one, but as it sped up and as it became less about monologues I really, really jumped in and liked it quite a bit. While it is quite dated in a lot of ways (it came out before the AIDS epidemic really took hold in the gay community and ravaged it), I feel like there are plenty of themes that are quite timeless and universal. I loved the emotional connection that Arnold and Ed had, through it’s ups and downs, and was really rooting for them even when I just wanted to smack one or the other. But at the heart of this play is Arnold, who puts on a strong and sardonic face while still having a certain vulnerability about him that was very effective. I got very close to crying during the last act, as Arnold lays it all out in a very emotional scene between him and his mother, who disapproves of the fact he’s a gay man, where multiple revelations are revealed (spoiler here, but one of which was that Alan was killed in a gay bashing). I think that some parts of this play would work better on stage than on paper, like the monologues in the first act, but I kept in mind that this is, in fact, meant to be on stage, so I couldn’t hold that against it too much. I have always liked Harvey Fierstein, but I feel like many of his roles in the 80s, 90s, and through today have been super comedic. Which he is good at, for sure. But this role, the role of Arnold, I would have loved to see him play, because while Arnold is wildly funny, he is also prone to break my heart.
I immediately put this movie on request at the library. I’m ready to see it in full now. I really liked TORCH SONG TRILOGY and completely understand how foundational it is, even if it’s age is showing.
I am a former theater kid, who still really enjoys going to the theater and reading plays. I have an especially soft spot for GLBT themed plays, with my favorites being ANGELS IN AMERICA, THE NORMAL HEART, and THE LARAMIE PROJECT. I had heard of TORCH SONG TRILOGY by Harvey Fierstein, and had even rented the movie from Netflix, though I didn’t finish it because I knew that things were going to get sad, and wasn’t in an emotional place for it at the time. I knew about the tragedy in it, and I knew about the big ‘queers don’t love!’ speech and I just couldn’t handle it. But recently I decided that I wanted to at the very least read it, and put in a request for it at my neighborhood library. It is, after all, considered a classic in the gay theater scene, so it was time for me to read it.
TORCH SONG TRILOGY follows the characters of Arnold and Ed. Mostly Arnold. Arnold is a drag queen in New York who is verbose and effervescent, while Ben is an older bisexual man who is ashamed of his attraction to men, though he is in love with Arnold. The three acts are separate one act plays put into one. The first is Arnold and Ed’s relationship, with Ed struggling. The second is a few years later with Arnold and his new boyfriend Alan visiting Ed and his lover Laurel, as Arnold and Alan solidify their love and commitment to each other. The third is a few years after that with Arnold raising a foster son, a gay teenager named David, while juggling his feelings for Ed, a terrible loss, and a visit from his judgmental mother.
It took me a little time to get into this one, but as it sped up and as it became less about monologues I really, really jumped in and liked it quite a bit. While it is quite dated in a lot of ways (it came out before the AIDS epidemic really took hold in the gay community and ravaged it), I feel like there are plenty of themes that are quite timeless and universal. I loved the emotional connection that Arnold and Ed had, through it’s ups and downs, and was really rooting for them even when I just wanted to smack one or the other. But at the heart of this play is Arnold, who puts on a strong and sardonic face while still having a certain vulnerability about him that was very effective. I got very close to crying during the last act, as Arnold lays it all out in a very emotional scene between him and his mother, who disapproves of the fact he’s a gay man, where multiple revelations are revealed (spoiler here, but one of which was that Alan was killed in a gay bashing). I think that some parts of this play would work better on stage than on paper, like the monologues in the first act, but I kept in mind that this is, in fact, meant to be on stage, so I couldn’t hold that against it too much. I have always liked Harvey Fierstein, but I feel like many of his roles in the 80s, 90s, and through today have been super comedic. Which he is good at, for sure. But this role, the role of Arnold, I would have loved to see him play, because while Arnold is wildly funny, he is also prone to break my heart.
I immediately put this movie on request at the library. I’m ready to see it in full now. I really liked TORCH SONG TRILOGY and completely understand how foundational it is, even if it’s age is showing.
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Some definite laugh out loud moments, like when Arnold can't shut up in his visit to "the backroom".
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This book is broken up into two plays, the original and the revival of "Torch Song Trilogy." Upon reading the original script I realized I read this already and forgot it. In the introduction, Harvey explains how the original script was broken up into three different but fluous plays while the revival demanded that he edit some things out so that it can keep the attention of today's audiences. I just have to say this. They BOTH WORK. I look forward to reading more scripts written by Harvey and I sincerely hope I can work with him as a colleague in the theatrical arts.
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A fascinating play a drag artist's love life in the 70's and 80's. Includes the original separate plays of the trilogy and then a newer mash-up of them.
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An amazing read, that may bring back a time that seems foreign and unknown to those born after 1979. It truly is one of those "you had to be there and present "books to understand the brilliance of Fierstein's play.
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Great to read the contrasting versions back to back. I aporeciate the slickness of the revised text but miss the slopiness of the original.
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This is among several plays I submitted to our local theater group (the thought and hope being that someone would direct it and cast me as Arnold.)
I own and have read the original play and was interested in the revised play, performed in a recent revival, called simply Torch Song, that cuts roughly an hour from the 3-hour, three-act play; I wondered how this would work out.
I'm happy to report that the "meat" of the trilogy remains and the cuts seem judicious, and that little is missing from the saga of Arnold's quest for love and family.
This was a game changer of a play when it ran off-Broadway and went into a surprise Broadway hit, winning Tony awards for Best Play and Best Actor for Fierstein. It remains a beautiful, life-affirming, extremely important work of theater.
I own and have read the original play and was interested in the revised play, performed in a recent revival, called simply Torch Song, that cuts roughly an hour from the 3-hour, three-act play; I wondered how this would work out.
I'm happy to report that the "meat" of the trilogy remains and the cuts seem judicious, and that little is missing from the saga of Arnold's quest for love and family.
This was a game changer of a play when it ran off-Broadway and went into a surprise Broadway hit, winning Tony awards for Best Play and Best Actor for Fierstein. It remains a beautiful, life-affirming, extremely important work of theater.
...
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One of the best plays I've ever read! Though written in the late 20th century, many of the topics and views towards homosexuality are, sadly, much the same today. Even if you're not gay, you can find yourself in Arnold as an outlier, a social outcast, a pariah, a black sheep, and just an all around unique specimen.
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