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Drama Gay & Lesbian

Body Politic

by (author) Nick Green

introduction by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

Publisher
Playwrights Canada Press
Initial publish date
May 2019
Category
Gay & Lesbian, Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781770919747
    Publish Date
    May 2019
    List Price
    $17.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781770919761
    Publish Date
    May 2019
    List Price
    $12.99

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Description

The point is that we started the conversation.

In 1971 Phillip was on the cusp of starting something big. Something that would make history. Now he’s an aging journalist trying to make sense of Grindr. Phillip was a founding member of The Body Politic, a gay-liberation newspaper based in Toronto. As he recounts memories of censorship battles, police raids, historic rallies, and the onset of HIV/AIDS during an intimate encounter with a younger man, their generational differences shine a light on the massive shifts in queer identity and politics over the last fifty years.

This historical drama reimagines the events surrounding the birth, life, and death of one of the most important journalistic forces in Canada, and the opportunities it created for the future.

About the authors

Nick Green is a Dora and Sterling Award–winning playwright, and the creator of the Social Distancing Festival. Credits include Happy Birthday Baby J (Shadow Theatre); Every Day She Rose (Nightwood Theatre, co-written with Andrea Scott); Fangirl (book; Launch Pad at the Musical Stage Company); In Real Life (book; Canadian Music Theatre Projects); Dinner with the Duchess (Next Stage Festival, BroadwayWorld Toronto Award); Body Politic (Buddies in Bad Times/lemonTree Creations; Dora Award); Poof! The Musical (book and lyrics; Capitol Theatre, Sterling Award nomination); and The Fabulous Buddha Boi (Guys UnDisguised, Sterling Award). He lives in Toronto.

Nick Green's profile page

Donna-Michelle St. Bernard (aka Belladonna the Blest) is an emcee, playwright, and agitator. Works for the stage include Reaching for Starlight, Cake, Sound of the Beast, A Man A Fish, They Say He Fell, Salome's Clothes, Gas Girls, Give It Up, The Smell of Horses, and The First Stone. She is co-editor with Yvette Nolan of the Playwrights Canada Press anthologies Refractions: Solo and Refractions: Scenes, and editor of Indian Act: Residential School Plays. DM is the creator of the 54ology and artistic director of New Harlem Productions.

Donna-Michelle St. Bernard's profile page

Excerpt: Body Politic (by (author) Nick Green; introduction by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard)

Phillip: Kettle’s on. If you guys are okay here, I think I’m going to…

Steven: It was a good piece, Phillip. It caught the raw energy. The emotion. The hope.

Phillip: I agree. They were scared of it. Fucking typical.

Steven: That’s what I’m saying. It needs to be read.

Calvin: Well then, let’s get it the fuck out there.

Steven: It needs to be out there.

Phillip: You guys should really do that.

Steven: We can’t. Who’s going to publish it? No one’s going to publish this thing, it’s too…

Calvin: What?

Steven: No one is publishing this kind of thing.

Calvin: You just said that.

Steven: Someone should be.

Calvin: I think we’re on the same page here.

Steven: I could be.

Phillip: You could be.

Steven: We should be.

Phillip: Yeah, you guys should be.

Steven: No. All of us.

Phillip: I’m actually pretty busy these days.

Calvin: You’re not.

Steven: You really aren’t.

Calvin: But it’ll take more than three people.

Steven: Obviously, Calvin.

Calvin: Who?

Steven: You call Jason and Patrick.

Calvin: And Carl.

Steven: I hate Carl. Oh, ask Chaz.

Calvin: Maybe you should ask Chaz.

Steven: Oh, and Deb.

Calvin: Phillip, you have that friend at U of T.

Phillip: I think that this is more your speed, you guys.

Calvin: Okay, bye.

Steven: Phillip, I won’t listen to it. You’re in. Okay? Just say it. You’re in. Okay?

Phillip: Okay. I’m in.

Steven: Good. So let’s get started.

Editorial Reviews

Body Politic is by turns funny, enlightening, heartbreaking and occasionally, for seasoning, bewildering.”

Mooney on Theatre

“For some, this will be a reminder of history; for others, an important history lesson.”

NOW Magazine

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