The two plays which I have chosen for comparison are "Bent," by Martin Sherman and "Strange Fruit," by Caryl Phillips. Both plays explore the theme of identity, but the way in which it is approached is different in each play.
I have chosen these plays as there is a prominent progression of identity for the main characters in each play and I want to show how this is influenced by other factors and characters in the play and the events of the time that each play was written. .
I am going to explore how other factors in each play influence the identity of each character and the approach to identity in general.
Bent was first performed at London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. The main theme in the play is sexuality, and how Max oscillates over his true identity. Bent is set in 1934 in a pre-war fascist Germany. Hitler was in power and the Nazi rule was in progress. Among Hitler's intimates was Ernst Rohm, commander of the S.A. - the Nazi storm troopers. Unlike others in the Nazi Party, Rohm was openly homosexual. He frequented gay bars, belonged to a homosexual organization called the League for Human Rights, and publicly advocated the repeal of Paragraph 175. Rohm established a kind of gay network within the S.A. One of his favourites was Karl Ernst. After meeting Rohm, Ernst had a rise from a leadership position in the S.A. to a seat in the Reichstag, Germany's legislative body. Rohm and his close-knit circle - had powerful, homophobic enemies who convinced Hitler that Rohm was a threat. These included Joseph Goebbels, head of Nazi propaganda, and Paul Schultz, captain of the Berlin S.A. On June 30, 1934 - The Night of Long Knives - Hitler, Goebbels, and a small group of Gestapo travelled in the middle of the night to a resort where Rohm was staying. In recognition of his long friendship with Hitler, Rohm was given a pistol and ordered to kill himself, but he refused and was executed. Over the next four days, about 150 S.