John Van Druten: His Closet Was the Stage
by Jeff Baker
“Oh, Pye, Pye, Pyewacket, what’s the matter with me?”
—–from “Bell, Book and Candle”
I grew up reading plays. Part of that came from my watching a lot of TV shows and movies. In High School I had the run of the Library as my Mom was one of the Librarians and I read plenty of plays as well as a lot of books about plays and TV and Movies. (I didn’t get on stage until college, but I digress.) As I liked movies and TV shows with sci-fi and fantasy I gravitated to that in plays. “The Tempest.” “Dark Of the Moon.” “Harvey.” And, of course, “Bell, Book and Candle.”
The last of these was written by John Van Druten, whose name is not as well known today as it was around the Second World War when he was a theater Wunderkind, writing and directing stage plays in his native England and his adopted America. Several of his plays are still known and get a production, often in High Schools, like “I Remember Mama,” from Kathryn Forbes’ wonderfully sentimental book.
Van Druten (1901-1957) was Gay, back when this was not discussed openly and Pride was kept to oneself. Like many other LGBT writers, perusers of his works need to usually look between or behind the lines to see any hint of Queer. Usually “Gay subtext” is not there, but “the Other” often is. And LGBT people have experience with being The Other.
Here’s a brief look at three of his plays.
“The Voice Of the Turtle,” is a comedy that deals with chastity and romance.
“Bell, Book and Candle” is about modern-day witches living largely concealed in Manhattan. Like the latter “Bewitched,” Gay subtext can be read into this.
And then there’s “I Am A Camera,” based on Gay Playwright Christopher Isherwood’s book “The Berlin Diaries,” this was the source material for the legendary musical “Caberet.”
The stage version of “Caberet” leaves no doubt as to the Bisexual nature of some of the characters.
In his book “Playwright At Work,” Van Druten does not touch on his sexuality, only noting in passing: “A play recommending homosexuality, or taking a tolerant view of it (not regarding it as a form of sickness), would be hard of acceptance. That may not last forever.”
The above quoted in a fine article from The Telegraph a year ago by Philip Wilson, with a lousy title that doesn’t reflect the tone of the article: “Tortured And Forgotten; The Tragic Story Of John Van Druten.” (Here I’ll mention that magazine/newspaper writers usually don’t write the headlines for their articles.) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/john-van-druten-voice-of-turtle-jermyn-street-theatre/?msockid=2e8e148b03766a5b394801ef02036b3d
Van Druten comes off as closeted and today neglected but not totally forgotten. Several of his works are revived regularly and performed. Most playwrights of the past would love that.
Van Druten was in a relationship with a man named Carter Lodge and the two of them bought a ranch with British actress Auriol Lee and lived there. Lodge managed the property and Van Druten’s business interests. This enabled them to be “discreet.”
The article quoted above mentions that Van Druten’s diaries have never been published.
They might be interesting.
Jeff Baker read “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in High School. He read it during Biology Class which is why he’s a writer, not a Biologist. He blogs about Fantasy, Sci-fi and horror and other sundry matters around the thirteenth of each month. He regularly posts fiction on his blog https://authorjeffbaker.com/ and wastes time on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jeff.baker.524042 , Blue Sky https://bsky.app/profile/jeffbakerauthor.bsky.social and Mastodon (as “Mike Mayak.”) https://mastodon.otherworldsink.com/@MikeMayak
He has a Tribel account, but that site has gone “poof.” His story “Incorporation Of Danny Zero” is in Live Real Press’ new anthology “Five Seconds Of Power,” again as “Mike Mayak.”