The play "He was born gay": flyer for performance at Queen's theatre in London. Colour process print, 193-.

London (68-70 Wardour St, W1) : Miles & Co. Ltd., [between 1930 and 1939?]

1 print : process print, printed in colour ; 15.1 x 10 cm

Queen's theatre. John Gielgud in 'He was born gay' a romance in 3 acts by Emlyn Williams. ... Printed on verso: Portraits of John Gielgud, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Carol Goodner, Emlyn Williams

This work is untitled: the title has been supplied by the cataloguer.

The following description was provided by James Gardiner: "Until the 1970s the word 'gay' still meant 'happy' to the great majority of people in Britain, although its sexual and moral connotations go back to the mid-19th century, when (female) London prostitutes were known as 'gay ladies'. The fact that it could be used in the title of a popular play in London in 1937 written by one homosexual (Emlyn Williams) and starring another (John Gielgud), proves the obscurity of its secondary meaning at this time, although both Gielgud and Williams must have been aware of the irony".

Wellcome Collection 2059292i