CRITICAL ASSESMENT: Portfolio of 3 short (1000-1200 word) dramaturgical

analyses.
1.

The definition of a good play is one that says something about the state of
the world. (Stephen Jeffreys Playwriting Workshop)

BENT Martin Sherman

INTRODUCTION
According to Stephen Jeffreys, the definition of a good play is one that says
something about the state of the world. In order to evaluate Jeffreys affirmation and
to analyse the function of drama in the world, the following essay will make close
reference to Martin Shermans play Bent. The election of Bent was deliberated by its
content: this play contains vast of social, cultural and temporal references
concerning one of the most tempestuous moments in human history: the Second
World War. To begin, this essay will briefly summarize Bents main argument, then it
will examine some of the spatiotemporal and social references that Sherman
provides along the play to contextualise the reader. Finally, this essay will make an
analysis of the plays main argument: homosexuality in Germany during the Second
World War. It will be argued here that
To begin, this essay will give a brief summary of the Bents main argument, and then
it will pass to evaluate three of the main temporal references that Sherman uses to
contextualise his readers. Bent is settled in Germany during the beginning of the
Second World War. The story begins in Max and his lover Rudys flat, they are
arguing about Maxs past-night stand with a homosexual Sturmabteilung (SA) soldier
named Wolf. Max and Rudy used to be part of the homosexual scene, and they did

not realize the huge rising of the Nazi storm, so that morning Gestapo officers in full
Nazi uniform (Bent, 67) go to their house to arrest them but they managed to escape
and they are persecuted for years until they get captured and Rudy is murdered.
During his staying at the concentration camp, Max meets Horst, a fellow homosexual
that maintains a secret affair with him.
Firstly, two important spatiotemporal references that Sherman uses to contextualise
his reader are the projection in the centre of the stage saying Berlin-1934 (Bent,
68), followed by a discussion with Greta about the falling of Ernst Rhm (Bent, 72).
Those two moments are crucial in the understanding of the play because they are
already settling the reader on a specific historical moment of the world: the projection
is indicating that the play begins on the first morning after the start of the Night of the
Long Knives in which Hitler killed around 400 leaders of the SA, including Ernst
Rhm, who was gay and protected other homosexuals (Smikin, 1997). In Gretas
words (Bent, 72), it was just Rhm keeping you all safe. Now youre like Jews. This
two opening spatiotemporal references are the starting point to a controversial
discussion about the state of world during the Second World War: those two
moments serve as an introduction to set up the rising action: the series of violence
and crude events that happened during the Holocaust, making special emphasis in
the topic of homosexuality during that epoch.
Secondly, another two significant spatiotemporal references in relation to the world
are the dialogues between Max and Horst about Dachau and about Berlins 1936
Olympic Games. In the first instance, the huge importance of Bent as is that it is not
entirely fictional but all of its references rely upon historical facts. The reference of
Dachau (Bent, 88) works for the play as historical background to enhance the
understanding, appreciation and interpretation of the theatrical piece, but that

reference is at the same time telling so many facts about the situation of the real
world during that specific period of time: Dachau concentration camp was the first
Nazi concentration camp in Germany, located on the grounds of an abandoned
munitions factory near Munich (REFERENCE). Next in order, the reference to 1936
Hitlers Games (Olympics) disclose to a greater extent the historicity within the play:
it is pointing out the connections between Olympism, nationalism, and racism
through a different lens (Miller, 128). Nevertheless, this reference is not only placing
the reader in a period of time, it is also encouraging the reader to think beyond that
specific point in time to think about the state of the world, and on the larger meaning
and implications of sports and spectacle (Miller, 129).
To continue, this essay will examine the specific case of homosexuality during the
Holocaust and will evaluate Shermans suggestion that homosexuals suffered even
more than the Jews. After a year of Hitlers rise to power in January 1933, the first
concentration camp was opened at Dachau, and during the next two years, the
Nazis conducted the first wave of arrests of homosexuals.
In a conversation on the train Horst explain to Max the meaning of the triangles
(Bent, 88):
Max: Pink triangle? Whats that for?
Horst: Queer. If you are a queer, thats what you wear. If you are a Jew a yellow star.
Political a red triangle. Criminal green. Pinks the lowest.
As Horst explained, different colours of triangles were used to differentiate the
different types of prisoners. According to the testimony of many survivors,
homosexual prisoners marked by pink triangles were one of the most marginalized
and abused groups in the camps, often giving them deadly assignments. (Holocaust

MM, 2015). This happened because the Nazis saw homosexuality as a sickness
which could be cured through humiliation and hard work. As an example of this
situation, Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz, wrote in his memoirs that
homosexuals were separated from other prisoners in order to prevent homosexuality
from spreading to other inmates and guards (Holocaust MM, 2015). Hosts words,
except for a queer, no one is treated worse than a Jew (Bent, 95), have a radical
impact because those are the words of a chapter in history that was for a long time
silent; those are the echo of the harsh reality of homosexuals during the Nazi period.

To finalize with the dramaturgical analysis, other moments of the play that are
necessary to highlight because of their allusion to the state of the world are the
references to the physical and psychological tortures effected during the WW2 such
as the Maxs rape scene, or the moving of rocks. Bent is displaying Dachaus
structure: first concentration camp surrounded by an electrified fence and a large
ditch filled with water, which was used to impede prisoners from escaping but it was
also used to inflict psychological torture and in some cases to kill prisoners (Bent,
104), as they did with Horst in the last scene (Bent, 139). The importance of this
references rely in the significant correspondence with the dreadful reality of the world
during the war, but the plays relevance does not only rely on that period; Bent
demands the reader to go beyond that epoch and to think in general about the value
of life, empathy, compassion, tolerance and human dignity. Bent is an example of the
important relationship between literature and the world, and for this reasons, this
essay concludes that Bent could be included in Jeffreys definition of a good play.

After a dramaturgical analysis of Bent, this essay concludes that this play can be
included in Jeffreys standards of a good play as one that says something about the
state of the world. Bent can be seen as a remarkable piece of literature, and its
importance and relevance to the world can be observed in its nominations to
literature prizes such as a Pulitzer and a Tony in 1980 (Reference).

Martin

Sherman's Bent had a colossal impact when it was first staged and it continues to be
provocative and relevant because it incurs in two main issues: Holocaust literature
and Gay literature. However, Bent can be considered as a good play, because its
importance goes beyond its historic moment, Bent is calling to all readers to meditate
about morality, love, compassion and humankind.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWgermanA.htm
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/Olympika/Olympika_1996/olympika0501h.pdf
http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%206242.pdf
https://fas.org/irp/agency/army/dachau.pdf

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2015/apr/03/theatre-should-reflectsociety-and-boldly-imagine-ways-for-it-to-change