SEX VARIANTS OF 1941: A STUDY OF HOMOSEXUAL PATTERNS Comes to NYU Skirball Next Month

NYU Skirball will present Sex Variants of 1941: A Study of Homosexual Patterns, a world premiere play with music from the award-winning theater company The Civilians, running November 14 – 24 at NYU Skirball (opening night is November 15). Sex Variants, based on the 1941 book of the same name by George W. Henry, paints a radically candid portrait of queer America in the 1930s. Racy bits and all.

The Civilians mine an extraordinary archive to reveal the intimate lives of Depression-era queers. Sex Variants is a kaleidoscopic fantasia adapted from a medical study of queer sexuality. Drawing on the study's explicit interviews, pseudoscientific analysis, "medical" diagrams, and glossary of era-specific slang, the company uses scenes, songs, and striking visuals to celebrate an undersung community—and subvert the pathologizing gaze of the medical establishment.

Sex Variants is written and directed by Steve Cosson with co-writer James La Bella, and co-conceived with Jessica Mitrani.  It has original music by Stephen Trask, Aaron Whitby, Martha Redbone, Michael Friedman, and Ada Westfall. The cast includes Whitney Andrews,  David Greenspan, Robert M. Johanson, Jo Lampert, Irene Lucio, and Heath Saunders.

The creative team includes David Zinn, set designer; Emily Rebholz, Costume Designer; Amith Chandrashaker, lighting designer; Drew Levy, sound designer; Matt Duncan, music director; Sean Donovan, movement director; Attilio Rigotti, associate video designer; and Jocelyn Clark, Phoebe Corde, and Melissa Hardy, dramaturgs.

Founded in 2001, The Civilians are a New York City company that creates exuberant “investigative theater” on vital social and political questions. The company develops shows based on original interviews and research, and nurtures the work of leading playwrights and composers. Celebrated productions include The Great Immensity (a globe-crossing adventure on the climate crisis), In the Footprint (multiple top-10 lists play about urban development), and Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play (fourth-best play of the past 25 years according to The New York Times). The company originated Lucas Hnath's Dana H., recently on Broadway and included in Top 10 of 2021 lists by The New York Times and Time magazine and was the creative home of composer Michael Friedman from 2001 until his passing in 2017. Previously, they were Artist-in-Residence at WNYC's The Greene Space and at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Led by Founding Artistic Director Steve Cosson, The Civilians continues to reinvent theater for a world on the edge.

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