Bent by Martin Sherman

Directed by Joel Rainey

Produced by Jerry Sipp

Sponsored by Workplace Options

February 9 - 18, 2018 Umstead Park United Church of Christ, 8208 Brownleigh Drive, Raleigh, 27617

$22 Adults, $17 Seniors/Military, $15 Students, Groups of 10+

FEBRUARY 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 AT 7:30 PM,

SATURDAYS, FEB 10, 17 at 2:00 PM

SUNDAYS, FEB 11, 18 at 3:00 PM

THIS SHOW IS RATED NC 17 and intended for Adult audiences.

Nominee: 1980 Tony Award, Best Play

A lesson in history. A cautionary tale. A tragic love story.   

 The path-breaking drama about the Third Reich’s persecution of homosexuals, and the pink triangle— a sewn-on badge of shame for gay men in the Nazi concentration camps.

Events and Discussions: 

Tuesday, January 30, 7:00 pm. "Bent" the movie will be shown at The Cary Theater. $5 admission. After show panel discussion

Saturday, February 3, 2:00 pm Quail Ridge Books and Music.

FREE book discussion led by dramaturg Sara Thompson. "The Pink Triangle" by Richard Plant. Free and open to the public. Win tickets to the show!

Friday, February 9, 7:30 pm curtain. Join the cast in the lobby for an Opening Night reception in the lobby

Saturday, February 10, 2:00pm Matinee (child care cancelled)

Saturday, February 10,  Pre-show discussion 6:30pm, Curtain 7:30pm

Sunday, February 11,  3:00 pm curtain. ALL seats $15 today

Thursday, February 15, 7:30pm curtain

Friday, February 16, 7:30pm curtain

Saturday, February 17, 2:00pm curtain

Saturday, February 17, 6:30pm Pre-show discussion, 7:30 curtain

Sunday, February 18, 3:00pm curtain. Audio Described for the visually impaired.

Nominee: 1980 Tony Award, Best Play
Named among the "10 most influential postwar British plays" by Guardian UK

In 1934 Berlin on the eve of the Nazi incursion, Max, a grifter and his lover Rudy are recovering from a night of debauchery with a SA trooper. Two soldiers burst into the apartment and slit their guest's throat, beginning a nightmare odyssey through Nazi Germany. Ranked lower on the human scale than Jews, the men as awoved homosexuals, flee. Desperate and on the run, Max asks his own "discreetly" homosexual Uncle Freddie for help as the older man offers little more than suggestions on how to live, as he does, practicing homosexuality on the side. Attempting their escape, Rudy is beaten to death as Horst, another homosexual prisoner, warns Max to deny his lover. Taken to a death camp at Dachau, Max and Horst branded with the "pink triangle", hope to survive with each other for comfort and courage but it is not to be. Richard Gere created the role of Max on Broadway.

LEARN MORE ABOUT "BENT"
 

Click HERE for a Summary and Study Guide.

Click HERE to read more about the history and use of the pink triangle during the holocaust.

Events Prior to the show opening:

Tuesday, January 30th, Movie: "Bent" the movie will be shown at The Cary Theater. 7:00pm movie, after-show panel discussion. $5 admission, open to the public.

February 3, 2018, 2:00 pm. Quail Ridge Books and Music: Book Discussion:  "The Pink Triangle. The Nazi War Against Homosexuals" by Richard Plant  focuses on the Nazi War against homosexuals in the 1940's. Beginning with the history of economic  and social collapse in Germany after the first World War, this work of nonfiction explores how civil unrest created frustration and fostered the lashing out against anyone who was "other".  Sponsored by The Justice Theater Project as a part of the education and outreach surrounding the February 9-18 performances of the play "Bent" by Martin Sherman, Directed by Joel Rainey.  Books may be purchased in Quail Ridge prior to the discussion.

"This is the first comprehensive book in English on the fate of the homosexuals in Nazi Germany. The author, a German refugee, examines the climate and conditions that gave rise to a vicious campaign against Germany's gays, as directed by Himmler and his SS--persecution that resulted in tens of thousands of arrests and thousands of deaths.

In this Nazi crusade, homosexual prisoners were confined to death camps where, forced to wear pink triangles, they constituted the lowest rung in the camp hierarchy. The horror of camp life is described through diaries, previously untranslated documents, and interviews with and letters from survivors, revealing how the anti-homosexual campaign was conducted, the crackpot homophobic fantasies that fueled it, the men who made it possible, and those who were its victims, this chilling book sheds light on a corner of twentieth-century history that has been hidden in the shadows much too long."