From Shakespeare's gender-bending play Twelfth Night to the the critically-acclaimed Broadway hit Angels in America, from 17th century kabuki theater of Japan -- performed by cross-dressing prostitutesto the NEA-denounced performance art of Holly Hughes, theater has long been "the queerest art".

The Queerest Art is a pioneering collection of essays by and conversations among a diverse range of leading theater academics and artists. The first anthology to bring scholars and makers of queer theater into direct dialogue, the volume explores such subjects as same-sex desire in Restoration comedy, the racialized impact of colonial Shakespeare, the cuerpo politizado of a performance artist in contemporary Los Angeles, and the nitty-gritty of getting a queer show presented in Peoria. The Queerest Art rereads the history of performance as a celebration and critique of dissident sexualities, exploring the politics of pleasure and the pleasure of politics that drive the theater.