Torch Song Trilogy

Synopsis

Torch Song Trilogy is three interconnected plays on gay life and relationships. The plays focus on the one thing that all people have in common, gay or straight...relationships. Arnold is searching for that elusive perfect love, and in him and the other characters we see our own relationships with our families, lovers and ex-lovers. Although most of the characters are gay, what we understand at the end is that sexuality is unimportant, and we are all simply human.

Our Review:

7 May 2002

This terrific trilogy of plays by Harvey Fierstein - originally premiered separately off-Broadway in 1978 and 1979 and then on Broadway together in 1982 - makes for a long haul of an evening but is also most definitely in for the long haul.

Receiving its first major London revival since it was seen at the West End's Albery Theatre in a 1985 production which starred Antony Sher and also featured a very young Rupert Graves (in roles originally taken off-Broadway by Mr Fierstein himself and a very young Matthew Broderick), it is revealed now not merely as a gay classic but a classic, period. Bold, frank, adventurous, witty and wise, it offers a piercing portrait of a man looking for love and seeking to make a family, against the odds of society and the rejection of his own.

Written just a few years before the spectre of AIDS cast its dark shadows over the gay community - and proceeded to infect gay playwrighting, too, so that for the following decade no gay play was immu...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 21 May 2002:

I completely agree with WOS review. There is no better production currently running in London than this beautifully acted Torch Song Trilogy. What a satisfying show! I was captivated by both gifted male leads--Miles Weston and Nathan Nolan. Underneath the funny and witty dialogues, some sadness surges now and then. It deserves to be transferred to a commercial house or better yet, West End. ...

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