Origin
Sign In My Cart
Search
alphabetical author index
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Bent

  • Martin Sherman
  • Full Length Play, Drama, 1930s, 1940s / WWII
  • 11M
  • ISBN: 9780573640315

"Powerful and provocative."

The New York Times

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Drama
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: 1930s, 1940s / WWII
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
  • Cautions: Intense Adult Themes

  • Performance Group:
  • College Theatre / Student, Community Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, Professional Theatre

  • Accolades:
  • Nominee! Tony Award for Best Play (1980)
    Named among the "10 Most Influential Postwar British Plays" by The Guardian
In 1934 Berline on the eve of the Nazi incursion, Max, a grifter and his lover Rudy are recovering from a night of debauchery with a SA trooper. Two soldiers burst into the apartment and slit their guest's throat, beginning a nightmare odyssey through Nazi Germany.

Ranked lower on the human scale then Jews, the mean as avowed homosexuals, flee. Desperate and on the run, Max asks his own "discreetly" homosexual Uncle Freddie for help as the older man offers little more than suggestions on how to live, as he does, practicing homosexuality on the side. Attempting their escape, Rudy is beaten to death as Horst, another homosexual prisoner, warns Max to deny his lover. Taken to a death camp at Dachau, Max and Horst branded with the "pink triangle," hope to survive with each other for comfort and courage but it is not to be.

Richard Gere created the role of Max on Broadway.
REVIEWS:

"Powerful and provocative."

 The New York Times

"Brilliant... an explosive, overpowering experience."

 Women's Wear Daily

Premiere Production:

Bent was first presented at the Royal Court Theatre in London, England, on May 3, 1979. It was directed by Robert Chetwyn. The play subsequently transferred to London's West End at the Criterion Theatre on July 4, 1979.
The play premiered on Broadway at the New Apollo Theatre in New York City on December 2, 1979. It was directed by Robert Allan Ackerman.

Characters

  • Casting: 11M
  • Casting Attributes: Drag Performance, All Male, Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle)

  • MAX - 34, homosexual "wheeler dealer" who leads a dissolute life of drink, drugs, and sporadic sex until the horrors of Nazi Germany intervene and effectively put an end to his hedonistic alcoholic life style; a tormented individual, tortured by the memory of his reprehensible actions, but never loses his basic humanity; not at all a coward, but rather a pragmatist.

  • HORST - 20s, relatively muscular physique and a kind nature; a "pink triangle," incarcerated in the death camps of Dacheu because of his homosexuality; a sensitive man, strongly affected by Max's torment.

  • RUDY - 30, bespectacled, homosexual dancer; rather gushy, effusive, homebody type who has a great love for Max and his precious household plants; tends to become a trifle hysterical at times.

  • GRETA - Late 30s, a man dressed as a woman in a silver dress, top hat, and cane; presents an appearance that is at once elegant and bizarre; tough, practical proprietor of a gay nightclub who entertains patrons by singing in a smoky seductive voice; Nazi's rise to power sends him back to his wife and kids.

  • UNCLE FREDDIE - Early 50s, aristocrat, well-dressed; Max's uncle, a "closet fluff."

  • 5 GERMAN SOLDIERS - Late 40s, rough, menacing, intense features.

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Bent Script This is optional. Order Now

    In 1934 Berline on the eve of the Nazi incursion, Max, a grifter and his lover Rudy are recovering from a night of debauchery with a SA trooper. Two soldiers burst into the apartment and slit their guest's throat, beginning a nightmare odyssey through Nazi Germany.

    Ranked lower on the human scale then Jews, the mean as avowed homosexuals, flee. Desperate and on the run, Max asks his own "discreetly" homosexual Uncle Freddie for help as the older man offers little more than suggestions on how to live, as he does, practicing homosexuality on the side. Attempting their escape, Rudy is beaten to death as Horst, another homosexual prisoner, warns Max to deny his lover. Taken to a death camp at Dachau, Max and Horst branded with the "pink triangle," hope to survive with each other for comfort and courage but it is not to be.

    Richard Gere created the role of Max on Broadway.

    		$24.95

    Related Works