# I need a vaguely homoerotic dramatic duet



## InstituteMan (Apr 7, 2014)

Okay, I am hitting a blank on one small but necessary plot point in my current novel. The protagonist is a high school kid in the late 80s with a buddy who, unbeknownst to the protagonist, is in the closet. This is something of a coming of age story. One of the ways the main character comes of age is by learning about and accepting his friend. The idea is that he is forced to perform a dramatic duet with his buddy, and then later discovers his buddy is actually gay, and then freaks out, and then finally grows in what will hopefully be a moving and cathartic experience for a yet to be discovered handful of readers. 

Here is my problem: I know almost nothing about dramatic duets of the sort performed in speech and drama/forensics competitions. I am looking for a dramatic duet that (1) was generally around and known circa 1987-89 (although it can be much older than that, and likely would have to have been written decades earlier in order to be chosen for such a competition), (2) is subtle enough with the homoerotic themes to not be noticed as such in a small conservative town, but (3) is still clear enough to be noticed for what it is by an astute reader.

I feel like I should know this, but I always did the speaking events back in the day, not the acting events, and I am drawing a total blank here. Any suggestions?

Thanks, everyone.


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## voltigeur (Apr 7, 2014)

Look at the writing of Oscar Wilde. His writing are used in school for its use of language. I'm sure you can find a short scene they could do for speech class that has double meanings.


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## alanmt (Apr 8, 2014)

When I was competing in the early eighties, we were encouraged to look for our own pieces, and often people chose new or unusual stuff, looking to get a leg up over the same old pieces people did year after year (Anne of the Thousand Days, anyone?).  Probably the most subtly homoerotic piece I can think of would be the novel A Separate Piece - which is about two private school students during world war 2, and was made into a movie around 1972 and a play around 1989.  The author denies overt homoeroticism, but it comes across in the movie adaptation.  This definitely fits your bill, I would think.


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## InstituteMan (Apr 8, 2014)

Thank you, voltigeur and alanmt. Those are good suggestions and give me some specific options to go read. I appreciate the help.


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