06/13/2026
WONDERLAND PRIDE MONTH NEWS
In honor of PRIDE Month, and our own bravely out Q***r Activist/Creative Director and resident “Roaring Unicorn”- Andrew Mahan, and our current out and proud and those still finding their courage lgbtq+ company and cast members, and in celebration of our current ballet’s original author William Shakespeare, here is some beautiful Q***r history of The Master Poet himself!
Shakespeares 1609 collection of 154 sonnets is one of the most outright and proud explorations of same s*x love in Renaissance Literature.
The first 126 sonnets are passionately addressed to a young man (from Shakespeare himself) often referred to as the “Fair Youth”. They contain the strongest romantic and intimate language of the sonnets.
In his plays; daring against an age where same s*x love was outlawed by The Church, Shakespeare wrote q***r love stories into his works in a way that treated them normal and “under the radar” enough to avoid issue.
The term “Drag” comes straight from Shakespeare himself. “Drag” was the term for males or boys playing female roles. These roles were not played for comedic sake but played honestly and truthfully. Think about it! Juliet, arguably the most famous female lover in arguably the most famous love story of ALL TIME, was originally played by a young man SO WELL that it became known as one of the best portrayals of love in theater and still is today. Lady MacBeth, Cleopatra, Kate, and other POWERFUL female roles were played by men so honestly that the roles went down in history not as Men playing them but as Women of such prowess and power that they became desired roles for centuries after.
In plays like Twelfth Night and As You Like it, female characters dress as men in order to move freely in society and within their plot. This results in male to male love stories as well as female to female love stories displayed with humor and yet also scenes of gentle and true affection.
In The Merchant of Venice it is well known that Antonio is deeply in love with Bassanio and though it pains his own heart, he supports his friends pursuit of a woman.
In Twelfth Night, Sebastian’s love and devotion to Antonio is also clear and played in full view of the audience, adding a pained subtext to their plots through the play.
Prospero and Ariel are traditionally played as lovers with Ariel even asking his master; after witnessing the two main young lovers of the play together, if Prospero loves him (with the tone being if he loves him in the “same way”) to which Prospero answers without pause “Dearly, my Ariel”.
In our current ballet “A Midsummer Nights Dream” which carries arguably one of the more famous q***r Shakespeare couples within its plot, Oberon and his companion Puck are written so truthfully that within the ballet they are given duets and partner work; denoting love within a ballet. We are honoring this even more truthfully by giving them a full Pas De Deux with partner work “traditionally” reserved for a male and female partner.
As time moves forward and humanity progresses we know that some “Traditions” are meant to be changed and sometimes even done away with. Our history is full of learning to do “Better” for the sake of humanity. At Wonderland Ballet Company we are unafraid to celebrate ALL people of every color, religion, spirituality, background, gender expression, s*x, or orientation. People are not just “What they are” they are “Who they are” and it is the “Who” that we choose to focus on while celebrating and respecting the aspects of “What”. The Arts have NEVER been a place of exclusion or limitations. They were build by the “Odd” and the “Creative” and they THRIVE when those same spirits are in charge and allowed to move art forward without the limitations of of societal or religious “opinions”. In every culture Men and women and those between traditionally were involved in theater and music from the dawn of time. It wasnt until “Society” stepped in that suddenly women were excluded in western theater. That changed when those at the center fought for freedom once again within the arts.
The arts are where we go to be FREE! All of us! You are ALL welcome to come to Wonderland to laugh, cry, dance, sing, escape, believe, and BE YOU! Our one and only rule at Wonderland is “BE KIND”, because what else do you need?
SO In honor of PRIDE month, the mischievous Puck has cast some pixie magic on our website and for the rest of June our tickets for the Sunday Show July 26th are on sale for $15! Thats $10 off the normal ticket price! Let’s pack the house with love, support, diversity, and incredible energy! These tickets will return to normal price July 1st so get them quick!
https://www.wonderlandballetcompany.com/events
