A gui to what to see the Wt End, wh a gui to London Theatre - om big mils and starry dramas, to the bt of gay theatre London.
Contents:
- GAY LONDON, LGBTQ+ CLUBS AND EVENTS
- WHERE IS BRIGHTON'S CUTTG-EDGE GAY THEATRE?
- WHY WE STILL NEED GAY THEATRE
- DO LONDON REALLY NEED A NEW GAY THEATRE?
- THE GAY SWEATSHOP THEATRE COMPANY
GAY LONDON, LGBTQ+ CLUBS AND EVENTS
Time Out's gui to the bt LGBTQ+ theatre shows across London. Coverg everythg om lbian drama to queer baret to gay theatre classics, here's where to fd the latt LGBTQ+ shows across the cy. * gay theatre uk *
Okay, there are jt a few dited LGBTQ+ performance venu the cy, cludg gay theatre hubs Above the Stag, Royal Vxhall Tavern and the Kg's Head.
WHERE IS BRIGHTON'S CUTTG-EDGE GAY THEATRE?
* gay theatre uk *
Expect everythg om genre-smashg queer baret to lbian romance to gay theatre classics to exploratns of trans experience. Until 16 September 2023 Sleepg Bety Tak A Prick TicketsSleepg Bety Tak A Prick at Charg Cross Theatre 23 November 2023 to 13 January 2024 Strangers Between TicketsThe Goln Goose Theatre is revivg classic Atralian drama Strangers Between by Tommy Murphy, which looks at the highs and lows of growg up gay morn Atralia.
Here are ten of the plays that have ntributed to LGBTQ+ theatre's rich Drag by Mae WtThe Drag follows Rolly, a gay man who marri a woman to hi his sexualy, and the nsequenc of this. As an avid and unrelentg supporter of gay rights throughout her life, Mae Wt ma wav wh The Drag 1927, which she wrote unr pen name Jane Mast.
Faiar wh ntroversy followg her prev play Sex, The Drag ed the most outrage for her pictn of homosexualy and cross-drsg. Wh a st of exclively gay actors om a Greenwich Village club, the play was a huge fancial succs, but was wily panned by crics and shut down due to obsceny laws and never ma to Broadway as planned. Bluefish Cove is a “gay woman’s haven” where a group of seven lbians are spendg their annual holiday.
WHY WE STILL NEED GAY THEATRE
In the first half of the 20th century, you uld be arrted for stagg a gay play. Theatr uld be packed and shows sold out, but that wouldn’t stop them om beg shut down for "obscene" ntent. * gay theatre uk *
Bt plac for LGBTQ+ theatre LondonBent by Mart ShermanMart Sherman’s harrowg play sh a light on the persecutn of gay men durg the Holot. Max (played by Ian McKellen the origal n at the Royal Court) is a gay man Berl the 1930s, taken to Dach wh his boyiend Rudy after the Night of Long Kniv. It is by no means as ntroversial as many plays wh central male gay them, but has to work doubly hard bee of this lack of other lbian storyl on the stage, somethg that is dire need of changg and that Fun Home self uld In Ameri by Tony Khner The exploratn of AIDS 1980s Ameri an epic unrtakg, and Angels Ameri is a suably epic play.
Hot on the heels of the Angels Ameri revival, Matthew Lopez asks what is like for the next generatn of young gay men New York, growg up and livg the shadow of the AIDS crisis. Penned by Tarell Alv McCraney (whose tobgraphil play beme spiratn for the Osr wng Moonlight) this 2008 play talks about what means to be black and to be gay.
It remas jt as pertent today, alg wh the stggl that arise om the batn of misogyny and homophobia that are far om beg stamped out today’s society. The pany has specialised work wh a gay sub text – both for gay and straight dienc – producg NAKED HOMO, BILLY BUDD SAILOR, wner of Star of the Brighton Ftival, HANDEL’S CROSS, MIRANDO THE GAY TEMPEST and QUEER BODIES. Essentially, this was to prevent anythg cent, offensive or blasphemo takg place theatr; censorship was particularly strict on homosexualy.
DO LONDON REALLY NEED A NEW GAY THEATRE?
Disver gay London, wh our guis to all the bt LGBTQ+ live events, shows, clubs and bars the cy. * gay theatre uk *
Attus towards homosexualy showed signs of change when the Wolfenn Report was published 1957, which remend for the crimalisatn of homosexualy.
Ground-breakg many ways, Delaney’s play evad censorship and featured Geof, a gay stunt (played by Murray Melv) who liv wh protagonist Jo and helps her through her illegimate pregnancy.
When homosexualy was crimalised England and Wal 1967 (and 1981 Stland, 1982 Northern Ireland), Queer artists were no longer unr the threat of legal persecutn. The 1970s saw the emergence of Gay Sweatshop Theatre Company, whose aim was to unteract the prevailg perceptn mastream theatre of what homosexuals were like.
THE GAY SWEATSHOP THEATRE COMPANY
Decrimalisatn changed the way homosexualy and gay culture were portrayed on screen. * gay theatre uk *
Venu such as The Drill Hall (now RADA Stud) were dited to platformg gay, lbian and bisexual work. A wealth of work me the followg two s that fed the gay experience of HIV and AIDS wh artists such as Neil Bartlett and plays cludg Robert Chelsey’s Night Sweat, Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart (the first play about AIDS the Wt End), Ja Hood and Bill Rsell’s Elegi for Angels, Punks and Ragg Queens as well as Tony Khner’s monumental Angels Ameri.
In 1988, Jackie Kay’s Twice Over was Gay Sweatshop’s first play by a Black playwright and helped raise the profile of the women’s pany wh Gay Sweatshop. The Drill Hall ntued to be a centre for LGBTQ+ shows, cludg work om performance artists Djola Bernard Branner, Brian Freeman and Eric Gupton, otherwise known as Pomo Ao Homos (Postmorn Ain Amerin Homosexuals) – their show Fierce Love played at the venue 1992.