The Unrepresentable Takes the Stage: Bisexual Legibility and Theatrical Monosexism in Contemporary English-Language Drama

Abstract This article brings contemporary theatre studies into dialogue with the growing range of bisexual scholarship across disciplines. This scholarship argues, among other things, that bisexuality must be understood not as a blend of hetero- and homosexualities, but rather as a unique experience that is subject, at various times, both to homophobia and to another form of discrimination: monosexism. I argue that bisexual erasure, discrimination, and oppression – monosexism – in theatre reinforces and is reinforced by bisexual erasure in the broader culture. Building on the work of Judith Butler, Jill Dolan, Sam See, and others, I suggest that greater awareness of bisexuality in theatre studies might play a part in destigmatizing bisexuality and making offstage bisexual lives more legible and more liveable. The article goes on to analyze representations of bisexuality in three contemporary English-language plays: Stop Kiss (2000) by American playwright Diana Son, Cock (2009) by British playwright Mike Bartlett, and Smoke (2022) by Canadian playwright Elena Belyea.