Paul Halferty: Political Stages

Against a backdrop of profound cultural and social transformation, Political Stages examines the role of theatrical performance – and of openly gay, politically engaged playwrights – in the emergence of gay liberation and the development of the alternative theatre movement in Toronto. Adopting a cultural materialist framework, J. Paul Halferty traces the history of gay theatre through close analysis of four key productions: Herbert’s Fortune and Men’s Eyes (1967), the Tarragon theatre’s production of Michel Tremblay’s Hosanna (1974), Robert Wallace’s No Deposit, No Return (1975), and Gilbert’s Drag Queens on Trial (1985). Halferty’s richly detailed treatment of the biographical, social, cultural, and political contexts shaping each work’s production and reception positions these plays as salient examples of gay theatre’s transformative impact on the city, its theatre, and its politics.

Charting the dynamic relationship between gay politics, gay theatrical production, and the ideological and artistic commitments of alternative theatres, Political Stages provides a fresh perspective on the political evolution of Toronto’s queer communities.

Political Stages is available for purchase here

J. Paul Halferty is an Assistant Professor in Drama Studies at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he also serves as Director of the UCD Dobbin Centre for Canadian Studies and Director of the Master’s in Theatre Practice, a programme co- convened with The Gaiety School of Acting, Ireland’s National Theatre School. A theatre historian and queer theatre and performance studies scholar, his research explores the intersection of theatre, identity, and politics. He is author of Political Stages: Toronto Gay Theatre from Criminalization to Queer Protest (McGill-Queens 2026) and co-editor of Analysing Gender in Performance (Palgrave 2022).