PRETTY, WITTY AND GAY
If you've taken a college-level literary criticism course within the past 15 years, the syllabus likely addressed queer theory, an academic offshoot of gay and lesbian studies. But what meaning do classroom discussions have in a downtown drag bar? In search of an answer, MIT professor Thomas DeFrantz penned Queer Theory, a music-enhanced theatrical piece that asks whether ivory-tower ideas have platform-boots-on-the-ground resonance for the average LBGTQ person. The satirical show follows five individuals participating on an all-day "queer theory" panel: an ally, a leather-happy theorist, a hard-edged dyke performance artist, a trannie trickster and an everyday gym rat. In a pre-show talk Saturday, DeFrantz discusses how queer-identity comedy answers questions that are anything but academic.

'Queer Theory', Friday and Saturday, November 3 & 4, FlynnSpace, Burlington, 8 p.m. $23. Info, 863-5966. flynncenter.org

Pre-Performance Lecture, Saturday, November 4, Amy E. Tarrant Gallery, FlynnSpace, Burlington, 6:30 p.m. Free. Info, 863-5966.

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