Boards
'A Naked Civil Servant'' sequel
Just heard the news that John Hurt is to reprise his inimitable portrayal of Quentin Crisp for an ITV production of ‘An Englishman in New York’’.
For a summation of it’s content, I present this extract:
‘Quentin Crisp's New York years are perfect for drama because they saw the tragedy of his fall from gay grace; the man first seen as the John The Baptist of gay liberation was later reviled as its Judas.
He said that "homosexuality is a curse and I wouldn't wish it on anyone," and often remarked that being gay was an "abnormality" and an "illness." The new drama's pre-publicity hints that it hinges on Crisp being dropped from New York society after calling Aids "a fad". His biographer Tim Fountain recounts Crisp addressing a gay meeting in London in the late 70s, where one man angrily berated him, saying that The Naked Civil Servant had led him to believe Quentin Crisp was our Martin Luther King, but he'd turned out to be a queer "Uncle Tom’’’
What do we think?