2014 marks the 50th Anniversary of the birth of gay theater.

In 1964, Lanford Wilson's "The Madness of Lady Bright" and Robert Patrick's "The Haunted Host" opened at the Caffe Cino in Greenwich Village. These two groundbreaking plays paved the way for subsequent GLBTQ theater. Published by the Gay and Lesbian Review, Worldwide, my essay explains how these plays did more than just open the door for gays on stage: by making visible and public a new liberated consciousness, they helped open the closet door in general, as well.

Robert Patrick and William Hoffman in
“The Haunted Host,” December 1964 production.

Tom Bigornia, Neil Flanagan, and Lucy Silvay in
“The Madness of Lady Bright.”
Photo by Conrad Ward from the 1964 revival.

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to read the article.