ABSTRACT
This book focuses on sexual representation in two senses: firstly in the way that women are represented in the theatre (both as workers and as they are presented and represented onstage, in the form and content of plays); and secondly in the way in which homosexuals (male and female) and homosexuality (male and female) appear in theatre. Although they sometimes tend to be seen as separate issues, there are in fact interesting historical and stylistic connections between the two aspects. There is the obvious point that both kinds of representation suffer from a history of taboos of different kinds: in many Western countries women were forbidden to act on the ‘respectable’ stage until a mere 400 years ago. Gay men and women have always worked in theatre (as in other industries) but the taboos against the public recognition of homosexuality has meant that their relationship to their work has always had something of a covert nature.
