Going Beyond Ridiculous with Dr. Ken Elliott

A conversation with Dr. Ken Elliott, author of Beyond Ridiculous: Making Gay Theatre with Charles Busch in 1980s New York

The 1980s might not seem like a decade conducive to groundbreaking gay theatre. Yet amidst the AIDS pandemic and a homophobic backlash to the gains of the post-Stonewall era, Charles Busch and Kenneth Elliott created something unique in New York City. Their company, Theatre-in-Limbo, developed some of the biggest underground hits of the decade — unforgettable titles like Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Psycho Beach Party.

Dr. Ken Elliott’s new book Beyond Ridiculous: Making Gay Theatre with Charles Busch in 1980s New York, published by University of Iowa Press, tells the story of Theatre-in-Limbo and makes a compelling case for its underappreciated importance in American theatre history.