Mae West: Deemed Indecent

MAE WEST staged "The Drag" in 1927 but her gay play was shut down by the authorities before it could reach the lights of Broadway. A British theatre director decided to dust it off and present it to an English audience this summer.
• • Polly Stenham wrote this article. This is Part 1.
• • "Brutal! Vulgar! Dirty! Mae West and the gay comedy that shocked 1920s America" • •
• • Polly Stenham  wrote:  When Mae West’s play "The Drag" was first performed, in Connecticut in 1927, its author was starring as a prostitute in the scandalous Broadway hit "Sex." That show was soon deemed indecent, earning her a 10-day jail sentence. She took a limo to prison and said she wore silk underwear throughout her detention. The Drag proved no less controversial: it lasted for 10 performances before it was banned.
• • Why the fuss?
• •  Polly Stenham  wrote:  Partly because West was a woman writing about sexuality and, in particular, gay male sexuality. "The Drag," subtitled A Homosexual Comedy in Three Acts and written under the pseudonym Jane Mast, is about the cost of living with a secret life.
• • The upper-crust hero is in the closet • •  ...
• • This was Part 1.  Part 2 continues tomorrow.
• • Source: "Brutal! Vulgar! Dirty! ..." by Polly Stenham for The Guardian [U.K.]; published on Wednesday, 5 July 2017.
• • On Monday, 21 August 1944 • •
• • An article "'Catherine Was Great' but Mae West Makes Her Dull" was printed along with photos in Life Magazine (pages 71— 72) in the issue dated for Monday, 21 August 1944.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • In 1972, Mae West covered The Doors’ hit song "Light My Fire."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "If you can't go straight, you've got to go around."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • Time Magazine discussed Mae West.
• • Mae West, who has not denied being 56, was still having trouble trying to settle down. "I'm still looking for the right man," she confided to the New York Post's Columnist Earl Wilson. "My trouble is, I find so many right ones, it's hard to decide."  ...
• • Source: Time Magazine, "People" section; published on Monday, 21 February 1949
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 13th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,700 blog posts. Wow!   
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3770th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in a theatre quiz in 1949 • •
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