Bent into shape

Bent into shape

Martin Sherman's award-wining play, adapted by Peter O'Neill, took a lighter turn for Bangkok

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Bent into shape

‘I’ve never met a gay person who regrets coming out,” said Sir Ian McKellen on coming out of the closet. While the LGBT community has been gaining acceptance and support in recent years, the veteran actor can’t deny that there once was a time when gays were marginalised and discriminated by society.

Certainly in Bent — which was adapted by Peter O’Neill and performed at the Petralai Management Theatre at Chulalongkorn Business School late last month — oppression and prejudice ran in its thread. Since its debut in 1979, Bent has been known for its vivid and accurate depiction on the treatment of homosexuals in Nazi Germany. The play was written by Martin Sherman and McKellan performed in the original version.

O’Neill’s interpretation largely follows the traditional trajectory of the aforementioned play in terms of plot, characters, motifs and themes.

The story begins with Max (Chris Wegoda) and Rudy (I-Nam Jiamvitayanukoon), an openly gay couple living in Berlin, Germany.

Despite being men, Max and Rudy, in every sense, occupy a stereotypical boyfriend-girlfriend or man-wife relationship — the two frolic and bicker and one takes the role as the man of house, while the other the housewife — something that Wegoda and I-Nam accurately portray.

However, because of Max’s promiscuous activities and an unfortunate one-night stand with Wolfgang Granz (James Laver), who is wanted by Hitler’s Gestapo, the two quickly become fugitives and are forced to flee their home and Germany.

Chances of an escape soon turn from dire to impossible as the Gestapo captures the two lovers. Along the way to prison, Rudy dies.

Max finds himself at the Dachau Concentration Camp, where he befriends
a gay campmate, Horst (Jaime Zuniga). At first the two become squabbling co-workers and later lovers.

At Dachau, Max and Horst are stricken by mental anguish from repetitive labour, poor working conditions and their inability to express themselves as homosexuals due to the Nazi’s discriminatory stance. Much of the play is then devoted to their trials and challenges and how they must persevere and overcome. There is no mushy storybook love in Bent — it’s
a tale of how individuals deal with marginalisation and oppression.

Nevertheless, while the reality and ideas of Bent are grim, O’Neill’s adaptation of the play suggests otherwise.
If anything, the play is lighthearted and comical than gloomy and depressing.

Often times, the play is punctuated by humorous scenes. For example, Max’s discussion with Uncle Freddie (Kevin Wood) on “fluff thoughts” and the sexual mental role-playing between Max and Horst at Dachau are moments that invite audiences to applaud and laugh.

Contrastingly, audiences could also see the anguish and madness of the play particularly through scenes wherein Max suffers from mental anguish from the atrocities he has committed and Horst’s constant frustrations — Wegoda and Zuniga communicate these scenes well.

Yet, there definitely were times when the play was lacking — occasionally the emotions that were expressed were not powerful enough to incite the audience’s imaginations and hearts.

Audiences were reminded that they were spectators watching the performers on stage. In other words, audiences couldn’t fully break through the fourth wall and immerse themselves into the characters and imaginary world of Bent.

A possible explanation for this could be overly rehearsed scenes and not enough of the actor’s input into the character.

Granted, you won’t find a tear-jerker in O’Neill’s adaptation of Bent, but what you will find are empty feelings of melancholy, enjoyment and laughter, didactic lessons on oppression and a cast that is able to competently carry out the expectations and ambitions of the original play.

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