Justice Sterling by Rocky Roads
New York: np, 1974. Item #10461
Poster for the little-documented queer stage production, illustrated with a photograph by Peter Hujar.
According to cast member David Loehr, the play was originally written by Rocky Roads for Warhol superstar Jackie Curtis, but Jackie decided against participating in the play, and Rocky Roads took the lead role.
As David Loehr recounts, “The play was about a mysterious group of women (all played by guys) who would have these weekly secret meetings. There were a group of gangsters involved one of which was played by Billy Rafford. One of the gangsters dressed up as a woman to sneak into the party and spiked the punch bowl with LSD. Shortly all of the characters were apparently tripping and none of the dialog was cohesive. That’s when I appeared on stage as Jesus Christ, as if they were seeing “God” on acid. The play was hilarious and I regret that there are no photos or film of it that I know of.” From this image, we have identified performer Paul Ambrose and a friend of Hujar’s named T.C. as members of the cast. The play, as well as this early poster by Hujar, is essentially unrecorded, and not found in the Hujar Estate Archive.
An important and understudied document of queer photography and performance in 1970s New York.
Price: $350.00