About the work
Torch Song Trilogy, translated into German as "Einesteils und andrerseits und außerdem," is a three-part tragicomedy by Harvey Fierstein, who originally also played the lead role himself. Its component parts, "International Stud" and "Fugue in a Nursery," premiered at New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre in 1978 and 1979; the complete trilogy premiered on 16 October 1981 at the Richard Allen Center off-off-Broadway, before transferring to Broadway in 1982. The German-language premiere followed on 24 November 1985 at the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf.
Plot
In New York of the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Jewish drag performer Arnold Beckoff searches for love: first his bisexual lover Ed leaves him for a woman, then he finds happiness with the young Alan, only for that relationship to end abruptly when Alan is killed in a homophobic hate crime. As a single father raising his gay teenage son David, Arnold must finally confront his traditional, unsympathetic mother.
Cultural significance
The play, which for the first time gave an effeminate gay man a major stage for his longing for love and family, won two Tony Awards and was filmed in 1988, starring Fierstein and Matthew Broderick.