UMaine Presenting Provocative Play “Bent” Oct. 22-31
Contact: George Manlove at (207) 581-3756
ORONO — The next UMaine School of Performing Arts theater production, opening Oct. 22 at Hauck Auditorium, tackles the poignant and provocative “Bent,” a play depicting the treatment of homosexuals in Nazi Germany, and the persecution and terror the characters face during their imprisonment in camps during the reign of the Third Reich.
The play, by Martin Sherman, follows the journey of Max, a homosexual who is ripped from his carefree, hedonistic lifestyle and thrown into a concentration camp where homosexuals are viewed as subhuman. Max masquerades as a Jew to prolong his survival, but meets Horst, whose sensitivity leads Max to reconsider his identity as a gay man. What follows is a unique love story defying their oppression.
“Bent” encourages audiences to evaluate the untold truths of history and the identities that society forces upon individuals. History classes have long focused their Holocaust lessons on the Jewish people who fought to survive in Nazi Germany, but say comparatively little about the persecution, murder and torture of political prisoners, the disabled and homosexuals.
“Audiences may be surprised to see very beautiful, very likable, very sincere, very good men depicted onstage in ‘Bent,’ who just happen to be homosexual, and what terrible consequences they face only because they are gay,” says Sandra Hardy, associate professor of theatre and director of the production.
“Bent” was first seen at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1979 with Ian McKellen in the central role of Max Berber. When the play was produced on Broadway afterwards, actor Richard Gere led a cast that included David Dukes and David Marshall Grant. Hardy was in the audience and was moved by the story and the insights it provides about being gay.
“Both audiences and students of theatre should be challenged by the play being produced, and I thought the time had come to do a play about homosexuality,” she says.
Hardy hopes her choosing the play is viewed as having the courage to risk controversy and provide the kind of theater that promotes change.
“For those people who come to the theater to be entertained, to be told what they want to hear, to be satisfied when they leave the theater that things are good and right, if you come to the theater not to think but to laugh and hum and to escape, this is not for you,” Hardy observes. “This is a piece for smart theater-goers who want to be stimulated both intellectually and emotionally.”
“Bent” has received a Tony nomination for Best Play and won the Dramatists’ Guild’s prestigious Hull-Warner Award. It is recommended for mature audiences, says Hardy, because of the subject matter. It is being produced Oct. 22-23 and Oct. 29-30 at 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. Admission is $8; more ticket information is available at (207) 581-1755.