University Daily Kansan, August 18, 1983
Page 13
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Play shows gays in Nazi camp
By SARA KEMPIN Entertainment Editor
Empty liquor bottles litter the living room of a Berlin apartment the morning after a night of revelry. A leather whip is draped over a lamp shade and a metal chain is bunched near discarded whiskey glasses.
In the living room, a stirring confrontation between two homosexual lovers who are recalling the events of the night before is the opening of "Bent," a play produced and directed by students.
The critically acclaimed play by Martin Sherman, which is about the search for love and intimacy between homosexuals in a Nazi concentration camp, opens today in the Inge Theatre and continues through Sunday.
Bill Trotter, who is both the director and an actor in the play, said the idea to produce "Bent" at the University of Kansas arose after a late-night party attended by several theatre students in June.
"We just started talking about plays and roles we liked," said Trotter, St. Louis student. "I said I liked the show and I did a lot of doing of the show here came up."
Gary Smith/KANSAN
Most of the casting for the show took place at a barbecue later in the season.
What followed was months of planning, rehearsing and work by about 20 students' to design and make posters, costumes and sets.
"Bent" had a successful run on Broadway in 1979. Richard Gere and David Dukes played the two main homosexual characters.
Trotter drew up and presented a proposal to Ron Willis, chairman of the KU theatre department, requesting permission for the students to do the show in the Inge before the regular KU theatre season began.
The eight characters in the play have been rehearsing nine hours daily for
Phyllis Leach, Leavenworth senior
"He got really excited about it and before we knew it, the department was backing us," Trotter said. "The University financed the production, but the sets were not real extensive so it was not too expensive."
Two homosexual prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp, Max, left, and Horst, trudge back and forth moving heavy stones from one spot to another in a scene from the play "Bent." St. Louis is played by Jay Karnes, Stillwell junior, and Horst, by Bill Trotter, St. Louis special student.
and co-producer of the play, said the department liked the fact that the students took the initiative to see the production through to the end without the incentive of a grade or a class credit.
"The play is controversial," she said. It is brutally realistic and might upset some people.
However, Trotter said, "I don't find the play controversial." The gay issue is a given when the curtain goes up."
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