The Boys in the Band

Queer as Fact

History

4.8 • 644 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2021

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's back to back episodes featuring recent Netflix films as we discuss Mart Crowley's 1968 play, twice adapted into film, The Boys in the Band. Join us for a discussion of "turning on" and other 60s language, mining the death of your parents for dialogue and the controversial place the play has held in gay culture throughout the 52 years of its existence. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, and welcome to Queer's Fiction, where we talk about queer historical media.
0:03.6	I'm Jason.
0:04.3	I'm Alice, and I'm Eli.
0:06.0	And today we're talking about Mark Crowley's 1968 play, twice adapted into film, The Boys in the Band.
0:20.5	Before we get started, we have some content warnings for this episode.
0:23.4	This episode contains the use of queerphobic, racist, and anti-Semitic language in quotes,
0:27.8	mentions of homophobic assault, discussions of the AIDS epidemic, and death.
0:31.2	It also contains mentions of alcohol and drug use.
0:33.7	If any of that sounds like something you don't want to listen to,
0:36.1	please feel free to check out one of our other episodes.
0:38.4	So, The Boys in the Band was, as I mentioned at the start, originally a play written by Mark Crowley
0:42.7	performed off-Broadway in 1968.
0:44.9	It centers on a birthday party held for a gay man, Harold, by six of his closest friends,
0:49.5	all of whom are gay.
0:50.5	The parties interrupted by the presence of an ostensibly straight college friend of the host,
0:54.5	Michael, and as the guests become increasingly intoxicated, the tensions between them rise,
0:59.0	culminating in a game where each man must call someone whom he has loved and tell them about it.
1:04.0	In this episode, I want to talk about the history of the play's production, its adaptations,
1:07.9	sequel, and reception over the past 50 years. I think that it offers an interesting
1:11.6	parallel to the history of gay rights in the United States, coming out as it did just a year
1:15.4	before the Stonewall riots and being revived in the 90s, receiving a sequel in 2002, and being revived
1:20.5	again on Broadway for the first time in 2018. Then, of course, there are the two film adaptations,
	...

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