I saw this in the March 7,2011 Newsweek and thought I’d share it because of its references to gay sex: Tennessee Williams is back for his Encore.
As one of America’s greatest playwrights, almost everyone knows Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Streetcar Named Desire, Suddenly Last Summer, The Glass Menagerie and others. Or maybe you’ve just heard the lines, “relying on the kindness of strangers” or screaming “Stella”. His plays offer what he called “a prayer for the wild of heart that are kept in cages.” Angelina Jolie recently had that phrase tattooed on her arm. (she must have long arms). Williams was a pioneer of gay drama in America during a time when being gay was dangerous.
In a 1975 interview he stated “I see no essential difference between the love of two men for each other and the love of a man for a woman; no essential difference, and I’ve examined them both.”
But there’s a crucial twist in his writings about sex. Love doesn’t meet on some lofty noble plateau, they share the gutter. Nyphomania, rape, sado-masochism, cheaters, hustlers, gigolos, and prostitutes populate his plays. How could you not love his writings?
POZitive Attitudes 