The dialogue between all of them, accompanied by the stage direction and set up, was so effortlessly nuanced. There wasn’t one character that felt out of place, and while it is clear that Arnold is the star, each of the other major characters had so many beautiful moments. Each felt integral to the success of the story. They each had their unique qualities and their own voice. Every single character, was written so well. There is a lot that I loved about Torchsong, and honestly very little that I didn’t love. I’m sure seeing them performed would be similar. However, the combined effect of reading them all back to back was much more impactful then if I believe it would have been reading them alone. His reinforcement of the importance of love in all relationships, hetero and gay, served to counter the attacks against homosexuals as promiscuous pleasure seekers.How have I gone this long without ever reading this play? Or more accurately, these plays, as it is a group of three distinct stories, that all work as individual plays. Fierstein's play appeared just as AIDS was recognized as a major medical problem. Although the play is about homosexuals, at its heart it is a play about family, love, and survival.

Each element of the play focuses on an important passage in the life of its protagonist, Arnold. This early work was combined with two other one-act plays, Fugue in a Nursery (1979) and Widows and Children First (1979), to create Torch Song Trilogy. Torch Song Trilogy began as The International Stud, a one-act play that was produced Off-Off-Broadway in 1978. The play's popularity among a wide range of viewers indicates that the playwright's intentions succeeded. Fierstein states in a brief author's note to the play that he hopes members of the audience will recognize themselves in the exchanges between lovers and the relationship between mother and child. Critics have remarked that the language and situations ring true and not only to homosexual audience members. The work is semi-autobiographical Fierstein used his own experience as a homosexual to bring a sense of authenticity to the play. The play opened on Broadway in June, 1983, at the Little Theatre and continued for a long and successful run, having won several awards, including two Antoinette 'Tony' Perry Awards. Harvey Fierstein's play opened at New York's Richard Allen Center in October, 1981, and moved to the Off-Broadway Actors Playhouse in January of 1982. Torch Song Trilogy is a play that straddles genres, existing as both a comedy and a melodrama.

Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein