This was a ground-breaking study when it appeared in the mid-80s. It it still impressive even without (perhaps refreshingly without) the theoretical apparatus that has developed in academic queer studies. Relying heavily, and impressively, on newspaper accounts, and provided many plot summaries and copious excerpts, Curtin examines the appearance of characters that were or were taken to be gay and Lesbian in plays produced in New York. Very gradually portrayals become more frank and more accepting; stereotypes and the inevitable tragic end to the gay character gradual gives way to more sophisticated treatments. The critical response becomes less dutifully horror-struck and shocked and more nuanced. Reading this now, in a period when I married my husband to almost universal joy among friends and families, it is salutary to be reminded how recently it was that such a thing would have been unthinkable. The last part of the book takes place within my lifetime, and some of it even since I came out, and it is shocking to remember how much has changed and how quickly. ( )