Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in the theatre

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This article is about pedophilia/paedophilia in the theatre, i.e. plays, musicals and opera. For information on literature i.e. works of fiction/novels; autobiographies/biographies and other non-fiction works, see Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in fiction. For information on pedophilia and child sexual abuse in movies/films see Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in films and for songs see Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in songs.

Pedophilia, ephebophilia, romantic or sexual relations between adults and children, and child sexual abuse have been important themes of a number of works written for the stage.

Contents 1 Plays 2 Musicals 3 Opera 4 See also

[edit] Plays

Plays with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme (man & boy) or content include:

• Afterbirth by Dave Florez
• The Child-Killer: Portrait of Paedophile
• Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill
• Doubt, by John Patrick Shanley
• The Fastest Clock In The Universe by Philip Ridley

Coming up to his thirtieth birthday, Cougar Glass sets out to seduce 16-year-old schoolboy Foxtrot Darling

• The Lying Kind, by Anthony Neilson
• The Sugar Syndrome, by Lucy Prebble
• La Ville dont le Prince est un Enfant, The Fire that Burns by Henry de Montherlant

In Ancient Greece, where pederastic and pedophilic relationships were viewed very differently than today, many works touched on the relationships of men with boys. Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles wrote plays on the subject and the poets Alcaeus, Anacreon, Ibycus, Pindar, Solon, Sappho and Theognis of Megara all composed poetry praising the love of boys.

Plays with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme (man & girl) or content include:

• Alice, a play for television, by Dennis Potter, based on the life of Charles Dodgson/Lewis Carroll
• Frozen, by Bryony Lavery
• How I learnt to drive by Paula Vogel
• Lolita by Edward Albee adapted from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
• Masks and Mirrors, written and performed by Roberta Nobleman
• Motortown, by Simon Stephens
• Nymphs & Shepherds (A Paedophile's Life), by David Mines
• Short Eyes, by Miguel Pinero

Plays with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme (woman & girl) or content include:

• The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler: the early version of the monologue entitled "The Little Coochie Snorcher that Could"
• Aunt Dan and Lemon by Wallace Shawn

[edit] Musicals

• The Color Purple produced by Oprah Winfrey based on The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• Love Jerry by Megan Gogerty
• Lolita My Love by Alan Jay Lerner, adapted from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
• Tommy, stage version of the rock opera by The Who

Uncle Ernie abuses Tommy in bed "Down with the bedclothes, up with the night shirt. Fiddle about. Fiddle about."

[edit] Opera

• Death in Venice by Benjamin Britten, based on Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
• The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten, based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

[edit] See also

• Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in fiction
• Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in films
• Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in songs