It's worth remembering, particularly in an age of "inclusion," that
most good drama is not multicultural. It's created by exploring singular
worlds, where there is no allowing for the interplay of gender, race,
sexuality and class. ...
Now, I'm surprised to say, I'm happy never to write another gay
character again. It feels as though every aspect of the gay experience has
been narrated, performed and picked over in the past 30 years. It has left
us with some brilliant work. Alongside all the bad generic gay work,
artists such as Derek Jarman, Alan Hollinghurst, Tony Kushner and others
have left a body of work that is both gay and great. But that work seems
over now.
Right now, I'm eager to explore the strange, twilight world of the
heterosexual -- to expose its anguishes and mysteries and unconscious
comedies. Maybe one day there will be something to pull me back to the gay
experience, the sense of something new to be said about the gay world.
But, for the moment at least, my lavender quill is at rest.
Mark's full meditation on theatre, inclusion politics and
multiculturalism on stage (at least, in conventional drama) is here.
