Bent (play)

Poster for the Royal National Theatre production of Bent

Poster for the 2007 Vancouver Revival of Bent

Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman (which starred Ian McKellen in its original West-End production and Richard Gere in its original Broadway production) that was later adapted into a 1997 movie by director Sean Mathias. It revolves around the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany after the murder of Sturmabteilung leader Ernst Röhm.

When the play was first performed, there was only a small trickle of historical research or even awareness about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. In some regards, the play helped increase that trickle in historical research and education in the 1980s and 1990s.

The title of the play and subsequent film was originally "Life", but Sherman eventually changed it to "Bent", as he felt it related better to the corruption of the German Army during World War II.

Plot

Max (played by Clive Owen in the film), a gay politician in 1930s Berlin, is at odds with his wealthy family because of his political views. One evening, after a local rally among the Jewish people, he brings home a group of Jewish settlers, provoking the resentment of his boyfriend Rudy (Brian Webber). At this time, Adolf Hitler has just decided to get rid of the Sturmabteilung. The Sturmabteilung are discovered and murdered by SS men in Max's apartment and the two have to flee Berlin, after encountering a performer (Mick Jagger) who tips off German soldiers to their whereabouts.

Max's uncle Freddie (Richard Gale in the West-End production, George Hall on Broadway and Ian McKellen in the film) has organized new papers for Max, but Max refuses to leave his friend behind. As a result, Max and Rudy are found and arrested by the Gestapo and put on a train headed for Dachau.

On the train, Rudy is brutally beaten by the guards and, as he calls out to Max when he is taken away, Max is forced to beat Rudy to death to prove he's not homosexual. Max lies to the guards, denying he is gay. He believes his chances for survival in the camp will be better if he is not assigned the pink triangle.

In the camp, Max befriends Horst (Tom Bell in the West-end play, David Dukes in the Broadway production and Lothaire Bluteau in the film), who shows him the dignity that lies in acknowledging what one believes in. After Horst dies (when a guard orders him to the electric fence), Max is ordered to bury him. When the guards have left, Max puts on Horst's jacket with the pink triangle and commits suicide by grabbing the fence as well.

Revivals

San Diego, California — Diversionary Theatre in collaboration with ion theatre company will produce Bent in November 2009.

Altera Vitae Productions of Montreal, Canada presents the play in November 2009.

Pandora Productions of Louisville presents the play in May 2009.

Bent made its Cincinnati debut at New Stage Collective in March 2009. In May 2009, Bent was presented at Stanford University by STAMP, the Stanford Theatre Activist Mobilization Project, co-sponsored by the Emma Goldman Society for Queer Liberation.

A revival of the play was at Trafalgar Studios in London in December 2006, with Alan Cumming as Max.

The most recent New York production of Bent took place at the 13th Street Repertory Company. Directed by Joshua Chase Gold, and starring Ryan Nicholoff as Max and Jim Halloran as Horst, the production was received to strong reviews and sold out audiences.^[1]

Successful recent revivals include the Meta.for Theatre production at Performance Works in Vancouver, British Columbia, starring Sean Cummings as Max and Thrasso Petras as Horst. ^{[2] [3]}

From June 25th to June 30th 2009, Bent was presented by Theatre Engine at the Abrams Studio Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and received rave reviews.^[4]

In 2009, Hubris Productions will present a revival of Bent with original music by John Kamys aka Jinx Titanic at the Greenhouse Theatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 9 to August 15, 2009. This production is sanctioned by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. www.ushmm.org A portion of the proceeds from this show will benefit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

References

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