Greetings Comrades! Last month we had a great first meeting for The Mattachine Project, big thanks to those of you who attended and helped foster discussion and ideas. The next meeting will be Sunday December 7th from 6-9PM at IRT (154 Christopher St. #3B). We hope you can attend – feel free to invite friends.

We will be re-viewing the first half of the Harry Hay documentary “Hope Along The Wind” followed by a presentation/discussion on early gay history from Magnus Hirschfeld in Germany in the 1800’s up through Hollywood in the 40’s. (subject to change, but that’s the plan for now…)

The Mattachine Project will be a devised theater piece exploring the origins of modern homosexuality and gay liberation by focusing on the much-overlooked history of Harry Hay and the inception of the Mattachine Society from 1948-1953. By examining the roots of the first American organization dedicated to achieving gay rights and legitimizing homosexuality we hope to initiate a dialogue about contemporary culture and the current state of the LGBT civil rights movement.

Director Stephen Brackett, dramaturg Ken Nielsen and I have been doing research and organizing the project thus far. We plan to develop the first iteration of this show over the course of the next year and to show a workshop version in late fall/early winter 2009. In the first phase of development we are assembling a diverse group of artists and thinkers from  a range of media and disciplines to engage in “research rehearsals” – round table discussions about the history at hand while also identifying themes that resonate within the contemporary LGBT community and current political climate. 

Please join us.