March is traditionally the ‘mad’ month of cute bunnies hopping, lambs gambolling in fields, pink blossoms sprouting on the trees and the supermarkets full of hollow chocolate eggs priced 300% above their manufacturing price.
In gay London this year, March (and April!) has manifested itself as the spectacular month of the theatre, with a significant number of great homosexual-themed productions popping up over the city for your pleasure and entertainment. Here at QX we’ve done a quick round-up of the shows not to be missed, in addition with a couple of Q&As with theatreland’s most significant gay movers and shakers of the moment.
MAKING DICKIE HAPPY
Times Theatre Critic Jeremy Kingston’s acclaimed comedy Making Dickie Happy looks at the brittle, brilliant world of England’s literary and social elite in the 1920s, featuring a young Noel Coward alongside a young Lord Louis ‘Dickie’ Mountbatten and celebrated writer Agatha Christie as characters. In a hotel on an island just off the coast of Devon an imagined meeting examines the relationships, marriages, engagements and promises of some of the greatest writers and socialites of the time. Directed by Robert Gillespie.
BOY IN A DRESS
Autobiographical, raucously political and accidentally profound, Boy in a Dress follows the life story of La JohnJoseph, a third-gendered, fallen Catholic, ex-fashion model from the wrong side of tracks, from the council estates of Merseyside to the strip clubs of New York. An exhilarating collage of vaudeville, song, proselytising and postmodern philosophy, exploring intersections between sexuality and faith, class and enfranchisement, gender ambiguity and feminism, in a frank and almost charming tale told from a somewhat unique cultural perspective. Directed by Sarah Chew.
THE TAILOR-MADE MAN
The Tailor-Made Man is the true story of William ‘Billy’ Haines, the silent screen star who was fired by MGM Studios because he was gay and refused to give up his lifelong partner Jimmy Shields in order to bow to studio pressure and marry a woman. The show is a powerful story about Hollywood and its system and hypocrisy, but above it all the tale of Billy and Jimmy’s turbulent, passionate love affair that lasted over 50 years. Starring Dylan Turner as Billy and American actor, singer and improv comedian Mike McShane as MGM boss Louis B Mayer.
3SOME
Paul and Jenny, an engaged couple, and Paul’s best friend Rob, return from an evening at the pub and as the drink flows their conversation turns to ex-lovers… A risqué game of ‘I Never’ leads all three to the bedroom. But what happens when the night before becomes the morning after? Voted ‘Audience Pick of Camden Fringe’, 3some has been expanded and re-edited for 2013, a one act play based on real life personal accounts, looking at sexuality and sexual behaviour in modern society.
MY BIG GAY ITALIAN WEDDING
This production comes with a warning,; that it’s not for the faint-hearted, and that it ain’t Lear, it’s QUEER. After a sell-out season the comic tour-de-force directed by Paul Taylor-Mills and written by Anthony J Wilkinson is mincing back to Greenwich Theatre for one final heart stopping ceremony. Andrew and Anthony are getting married and everyone wants to ‘help’ – My Big Gay Italian Wedding spins into a hysterical fiasco as everyone tries to have their own way.
EVERY MAN FOR HERSELF
Due to popular demand for one night only this very special show is coming to the Rooftop Gardens in Kensington. In Italy in the midst of World War II, a small theatre company is making ends meet by entertaining its audience nightly with banter and seductive vocal harmonies. But when abominable new laws are passed only an inventive, if a little desperate, solution will offer them the chance to survive.
A THOUSAND MILES OF HISTORY
Award-wining Adam Riches will be portraying legendary artist Andy Warhol in A Thousand Miles of History, a new play by Harold Finley developed at the Soho Theatre and the Lincoln Center Theatre, New York. Set in the 1980s, ‘SAMO Is Dead’ began appearing on buildings across lower Manhattan when teenage Jean-Michel Basquiat killed off his graffiti phenomenon and launched a fine art career. As Basquiat and his friend Keith Haring moved from the streets into the galleries of Soho they caught the attention of premier New York arbitrer of public taste Andy Warhol and soon all three artists’ lives would become intertwined.
THE DRAMA QUEENS
Devised and directed by Spike Rhodes the new Drama Queens show ‘Stop the Musical… I Want to Get On’ has developed from various workshops held with the company. Following the trials and tribulations of making it in show business, the production is inspired by how difficult it is to keep the dream alive in the face of adversary but also how wonderful it is to have that dream, to hold on to it and celebrate the wonders of musical theatre, both the precious memories and the life-affirming struggles. One to be watched for all aficionados of the musical format, or any who have dreamed of being on stage!
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN POOFS
Snow White and her poofs are back for a one off Easter special, for thirteen shows only. Following last Christmas’s sell-out run, the fairytale character with a twist and her seven gesticulating companions are back by popular demand in a pop-powered drag panto suitable for adults only. Starring 2008 Drag Idol winner Tanya Hyde reprising her role as Snow White, acid-tongued Mrs Moore as the Queen and producer Simon Gross as Horrible Hilda. The big, bold, rude show promises to be packed with audience participation and feel good party anthems.
THE 8TH WAVE
Young gay playwright James Ernest’s (pictured) first full-length play comes to The Space presented by Disturbance, a film, theatre and digital crossform production company established by London theatre maverick Don McCamphill. A lonely and unmarried old shop owner, at odds with the world, discovers a teenage scally named Matthew having broken in one night and unleashes on him his fury. Matthew fears the worst but it turns out Brian and Matthew have more in common than it might seem…
BEAUTIFUL THING
Beautiful Thing is a glorious urban love story between two young men set on an inner city housing estate, telling the story of teenager Jamie’s relationship with classmate and neighbour Ste. The play exquisitely depicts what it is to be sixteen, in the first flush of love, and full of optimism. Written by Jonathan Harvey, this will be the 20th anniversary production of the famous play, starring Suranne Jones as Sandra, Zaraah Abrahams as Leah, Oliver Farnworth as Tony and young acting talent Jake Davies and Danny-Boy Hatchard as Jamie and Ste.
MILE HIGH MUSICAL
Illyrian Royal Airlines will ‘get you there’ for a taste of Mediterranean sun and sea (and the other one) in less time than it takes to fly to Corfu. Directed by Phil WillMott the cast and crew invite you to come on an emotional journey with Chief Flight Attendant ‘Richi’ Richenda as she attempts to ‘supersede the limitations that stereotyping has put on the roles of women in the aviation industry’ whilst fighting off all the men in her life! Will she succeed in her desire to become a pilot, or will she be distracted by the charms of the suave Captain Fantastico? Written by Mike Hume and Terry Newman.
CLAUDIO MACOR
Director of The Tailor-Made Man
How did you get into directing within the theatre scene originally?
After having a few bad experiences acting twenty-seven years ago, I gave it up to pursue writing and directing and revitalised my love for theatre.
Is this the first play with gay themes you have directed?
No, I have written nine plays with gay love stories. However, The Tailor Made Man holds a special place in my heart.
Is it any different tackling the portrayal of a love story within this production than a classic straight love story?
I believe that love is love and indifference becomes insignificant.
What would you ideally like an audience member leaving ‘The Tailor-Made Man’ to be feeling and thinking?
I want the audience to leave feeling inspired by a true life story of somebody who was nothing but himself and survived through everything that life threw at him.
JAKE DAVIES
Actor in Beautiful Thing
What made you pursue acting as a career?
I suppose it stemmed from being a kid where I always enjoyed making people laugh, performing for them and probably showing off a little. Eventually I realised there was more to acting than making people laugh and I was sucked in to see what feelings I could explore and boundaries I could push.
How did you get the role in Beautiful Thing?
I got the audition through my agent and I thought, ‘yeah, I’ll give it a go.’ But as soon as I read the script and saw what a fantastic piece of writing it was, and that Jamie’s characteristics are quite similar to my own, I was hungry to get the part.
Is it difficult playing a gay role?
Not at all. The feelings and emotions felt in a gay role are no different from those of a straight role. Love is experienced with the same intent regardless of your sexuality.
What was the reaction of your family and friends when you told them you were taking this role?
My family and friends have been very supportive it’s been brilliant! They are all very excited to watch the show but none are more so than my Mum!
What would be your ideal reaction for an audience member walking from Beautiful Thing to be thinking or feeling?
It would be fantastic if we could give some young men the confidence to feel that they can come out regardless of what background they are from.
KEVIN WILSON
West End Publicist
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.
I am an award-winning West End publicist, and I have represented some of the biggest and most successful London shows including Avenue Q and Rent. Although it wouldn’t be fair to say I work primarily in queer theatre, I’ve been lucky to work with some of our greatest gay writers and directors, including Mark Ravenhill, Philip Ridley, Phil Willmott and Thom Southerland.
Have you noticed the queer theatre scene change significantly since you started off?
In my early days in London in the early 1980s, gay theatre was very political, centred largely on the Drill Hall and radical queer groups like Bloolips. Then, as the AIDS crisis loomed, gay theatre reflected the anger in the community with death looming large. But, as gay men have gained more rights and acceptance by the rest of the population, things have lightened up.
What would you say the secrets to a successful gay play are?
Be truthful, fresh, fizzing with ideas and engage with a great story and characters. It should have something new to say about our lives and rise above sex, clubbing and coming out with gratuitous nudity thrown in.
What have been your personal highlights of the theatre world, not represented by yourself, in the past few years?
The ground breaking musical London Road at the National – I saw that three times.
JEREMY KINGSTON
Writer of Making Dickie Happy
How did you get involved with London’s theatre land in the first place?
I was working as assistant to the Assistant Box Office Manager at the Criterion Theatre, hunched in a corner trying to make the books balance. Then a play I wrote (No Concern of Mine) was commended in a competition run by the Observer and was produced by Robin Fox.
What inspired you to write Making Dickie Happy, a play mainly centered around gay themes?
I was told Noel Coward, Agatha Christie and Lord Louis (Dickie) Mountbatten all used to stay together at Burgh Island and I imagined a meeting between the three of them. I then discovered an extraordinary connection between Mountbatten and Christie and the play took off.
As a writer did you feel a responsibility to make your characters believable, outside of the stereotypes of the gay man in modern culture?
Four of my gay characters have fought in the First World War, like most men of their generation. gay, straight or don’t know.
As a theatre critic yourself. what is your opinion of the calibre of contemporary gay theatre?
Gay theatre is sometimes terrific, sometimes not. One good thing is that gay characters can feature in plays about anything, just as we feature in the world.
