Metzger is a Ph.D. specializing in literature and drama at the University of New Mexico. In this essay, she discusses the universal appeal of Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy and the nature of audience involvement in the play's success.

When Torch Song Trilogy opened Off-Off-Broadway in the late fall of 1981, Harvey Fierstein's comedy became the first commercially successful play to openly feature homosexuality as both star and theme. Fierstein's play is a semi-autobiographical story. Thus homosexuality is central to the play, since it is an essential part of the playwright's life; Fierstein takes special care in the opening lines to make clear his identity as a homosexual. But he does not announce he is gay; instead, Arnold/Fierstein offers a monologue that offers his position on any number of important issues: beauty, youth, love, dating, commitment. And while he never says, "I am gay," the words...