Winner of the 1995 Tony Award for Best Play, Love! Valour! Compassion! is a monumental exploration into life, love and loss at the end of the millennium. The three-act gay epic returns to London for the first time since its original 1998 off West End run, produced by acclaimed amateur theatre society, Sedos.
As hilarious as it is heart-breaking, Terrence McNally’s seminal work captures the zeitgeist of 90s America and forces the question – when reality hits home, who and what is most important to us?
It is produced by acclaimed London amateur theatre society, Sedos, and will run for just five performances from 5-9 July 2022 at the Bridewell Theatre, where Sedos are resident.
The show centres around eight gay men, friends and lovers, who gather at a country estate in upstate New York country house over three long weekends in summer 1995. Aiming to hide from the reality of life at the height of the AIDS epidemic, they realise that there is no escape. Secrets will be uncovered and hard truths will have to be faced.
The production has been over 10 years in the making and was originally due to be performed in July 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Sadly, the author, Terrence McNally, passed away during that time due to complications as a result of Covid.
This is not the first time Sedos has mounted McNally’s work, as the company has previously produced Kiss of the Spider Woman (2009), A Man of No Importance (2015) and Ragtime (2019) to rave reviews.
The play is held in the same canon as influential gay plays The Normal Heart, Angels in America, and The Inheritance, which examine our response as a community to this collective trauma.
The show is performed by an entirely gay cast, a first for Sedos in its almost 120 year history, marking a commitment to showcase more diverse stories.
The cast will be marching, alongside fellow Sedos members, at this year’s London Pride on 2 July. Sedos is partnering with the Terrence Higgins Trust to raise money for and promote their incredible work supporting people impacted by HIV and poor sexual health.
The show opens on the week of the 40-year anniversary of Terry Higgins’ untimely death after collapsing whilst working at London nightclub Heaven.
Buy your ticket to Love! Valour! Compassion!
Performances run 5-9 July 2022 at the Bridewell Theatre, 14 Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8EQ
