''A Patriot for Me'' is a 1965 play by the English playwright John Osborne, based on the true story of Alfred Redl. The controversial refusal of a performance licence by the Lord Chamberlain's Office played a role in the passage of the Theatres Act 1968. The play depicts Redl, a homosexual in the Austro-Hungarian intelligence service in the 1890s, as he is blackmailed by the Russians into a series of treasonous betrayals. The play highlights the dangers that a non-conformist faces in a declining empire. Its dramatic climax, and the scene that most excited the censor, is the Drag Ball, in which members of the upper echelons of Viennese society appear in drag. Mary McCarthy, the American novelist, wrote in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' that the play's "chief merit is to provide work for a number of homosexual actors, or normal actors who can pass as homosexual". ''A Patriot for Me'' remains rarely performed because of the large cast required. When the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

produced ''A Patriot For Me'' in 1965, it was forced to change from a public theatre to a private members' club. The play was deemed too sexually transgressive by the Lord Chamberlain's Office, and denied a licence for performance. The Royal Court suffered a considerable financial loss because of this denial. George Devine, founder of the

English Stage Company The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

, was performing in this play when he died of a heart attack. A musical adaptation of ''A Patriot for Me'', with music by

Laurence Rosenthal Laurence Rosenthal (born November 4, 1926) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor for theater, television, film, and the concert hall. Biography Born in Detroit, Michigan, Rosenthal attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N ...

, was produced on Broadway in 1969. The play was an influence on the later film ''

Colonel Redl ''Colonel Redl'' (german: Oberst Redl (original title); hu, Redl ezredes) is a 1985 biographical drama film by Hungarian director István Szabó. The plot, set in the period before World War I, follows the rise of Alfred Redl, an officer in the ...

Awards and honors

Original Broadway production

References