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Dateline:
10th June, 2005
The Queer Play Competition 2005
The (Gay) Pride Season of Theatre comes to London's Jermyn Street Theatre
from 20th June to 16th July and running every day is the Queer Play
Competition 2005. Starting at 5.30pm every day, theatregoers are invited
to attend a workshop production of new writing, representing international
playwrights from Australia, USA, Canada, France, and the UK.
Authors and directors including Tim Luscombe, Sarah Chew, Robert Chutter,
Russell Labey, James Martin Charlton and Stephen Henry are prepared
for you, the theatre critics, to pass judgement each day using competition
scorecards, with the best received play winning a full production during
EuroPride in 2006. If you want to influence what you see on stage next
year, get involved. Attendance is free with donations supporting The
Food Chain and Pride London. Full details of each play, cast, and director
are available at www.theatre28.co.uk.
The plays to be workshopped are:
Monday 20 June
Sad Hotel by David Foley (USA)
Directed by James Martin Charlton
A dramatic fictionalised portrait of Tennessee Williams living with
his lover Frank Merlo, struggling with the pressure of fame, betrayal,
addiction, and imminent death.
Tuesday 21 June
Empty Stages by Jay Boyer (USA)
Directed by John Jackson-Almond
Paige and her husband Ben are doing well. A rising star of the New
York stage Ben’s life couldn’t be better. With the announcement
of their first child they have everything to live for. Their only
problem is Morgan, Paige’s flamboyant gay brother, who treats
their Greenwich Village apartment as if it were his own. Why is he
so angry, hurt, and will he ever tell his sister what’s on his
mind?
Wednesday 22 June
The Death of Peter Pan by Barry Lowe (Australia)
Directed by Robert Chutter
In 1921 Michael Llewellyn Davies and Rupert Buxton drowned suspiciously
at a lake in Oxford. Michael was the adopted son of J.M. Barrie and
the author's inspiration for his most famous work. The play explores
the relationships between James Barrie and his adopted boys and Michael's
life after he falls for the charismatic Buxton. “To fall in love
would be an awfully big adventure!”
Thursday 23 June
OSCARIA by Elizabeth Hopley (UK)
Directed by Sarah Chew
Dolly Wilde looked like Oscar, talked like Oscar, and was the last
to bear the infamous family name. Her improvised epigrams (and her
colossal heroin habit) captivated the stars of Paris’ legendary
salons, which begged her to write something epic. She did. 40,000
love letters to one woman. And nothing else. The first lesbian celebrity
Dolly battled in private to fuse language with identity, and ultimately
chose to maintain her silence.
Friday 24 June
Yours truly by George Parsons (UK)
Directed by Stephen Henry
When Ben decides that he no longer wants to live his life as a man
his world is violently torn apart. Will those he loves accept him;
his family, friends, and colleagues? Can they ever truly love him
as a transgendered woman?
Monday 27 June
Minor Irritations by Sam Peter Jackson (UK)
Directed by Russell Labey
Ben is a young struggling actor who feels trapped by life, work, and
debt in London. Frustrated with castings, one-night stands and his
day-job in a call centre, he decides to visit his more successful
ex-boyfriend Jay in NYC, much to the dismay of his highly emotional
friend Harriet. A comedy about emotional honesty and finding your
feet in the big bad world.
Tuesday 28 June
Mother Caldwell by David Foley (USA)
Regina Caldwell is a right-wing politician running for government.
Her political career seems to be rising until her closeted gay son
Eric becomes part of a blackmail scandal that they will never forget!
Wednesday 29 June
Epiphany by Peter Billingham (UK)
Directed by Gareth Somers
An older man in self imposed exile off the Kerry coast has his solitary
life dramatically interrupted with the arrival of an old associate.
A political thriller.
Thursday 30 June
The Lost by Julia Britton(Aust)
Directed by Robert Chutter
Christopher Isherwood and W.H. Auden are on a ship bound for New York.
Isherwood relives his life at Oxford and in Nazi Germany, where in
the 1930's he wrote the famous Berlin Stories. Tortured by
the loss of his young German lover whom he failed to rescue from the
Nazis.
Friday 1 July
Marching Orders by Peter Billingham (UK)
Directed by Andy Capie
Two women working with a mission – for God and each other. A
relationship built on faith and trust traumatically changed forever
by another kind of love. A moving drama of desire and betrayal –
‘you bite into the apple: tell the first lie – an orchard
of pain is planted forever!’
Tuesday 5 July
Apart by Christopher Cope (UK)
Directed by Nikolai Foster
The English coastline in winter can be a bleak and lonely place. Particularly
for Elaine, approaching 40 and struggling to accept her boyfriend's
offer of a secure and committed life together. Ten thousand miles
away 19-year old Michael begins his first relationship with a man.
Life is as bright and clear as the Australian sky above. Yet when
it comes to love perhaps we all make the same mistakes...share the
same fears...repeat familiar patterns.
Wednesday 6 July
Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom by David Zellnik (USA)
Directed by Tim Luscombe
A comic-tragedy set in New York about disability, porn, pharmaceuticals,
Chairman Mao and the rise, fall and rise of AIDS. What do you do when
you’ve spent the last ten years preparing to die only to discover
that you might have a future?
Thursday 7 July
Chaos Theory by Charlie Hughes D’Aeth(UK)
Directed by Charlie Hughes D’Aeth
Jay, Mark and Rebecca have their lives catapulted into a state of
chaos when they find themselves at the centre of the Soho bomb in
London, 1999
12-14 July at 5.30pm
Did It Really Have to Be Like This? by Stephen Henry (UK)
Directed by Stephen Henry
Stephen’s first play focuses on Chomskites, PR, Slaves, Blogs,
Gay Shame and the Northern Line! Exploring everyday life in Blair’s
London.
In addition to the Competition, there will be four plays in the Festival:
Go Fish! (20-27 June from £5)
by Guinevere Turner and Rose Troche - director Alex Whitham
The classic lesbian film, by the same author of the hit show The
L-Word, adapted for the stage for the first time by the Zip Antics
Theatre Company. A love story set within a tightknit community
in London. An honest, soul-searching look at the lives of lesbian
women. "Brilliant! Engaging and provocative! While the constant
soul-searching and relationship analysis may strike a particular chord
with lesbian audiences, the play's appeal is by no means limited to
dykes; people of all persuasions will be well and truly hooked."
Citizenship (28 June - 2 July from £5)
by Mark Ravenhill director Daniel Clarke
Tom has a reoccurring dream that involves kissing a shadowy figure;
the only problem is that he can't tell if the person is a woman or
a man. This bittersweet comedy about growing up follows Tom's journey
as he tries to discover his sexual orientation. Celebrated author
of Shopping and Fucking and Mother Clap's Molly House
presents the London premiere of a new play performed by the Eastleigh
Youth Theatre.
L'homosexual (4 9 July from £5)
by Copi director Carole Menduni
After intriguing audiences throughout South America and Europe, including
the National Theatre of France, we are proud to present this English-speaking
premiere. The cast includes the legendary Titti LaCamp and Lola Lasagne
in their theatre debut in an Absurd comedy about AIDS, sexuality,
and identity. Revered Argentinean author Copi is introduced to London
especially for the Pride Season of Theatre.
New Boy (11 16 July from £5)
by William Sutcliffe (adapted by Russell Labey) director Gary
Reid
The schoolboy coming out story made a splash when the novel was first
released and its page to stage adaptation will be one hot ticket.
What do you do when the object of your desire is the school hero and
straight? Funny and moving the play takes us back to the nightmares
of the changing rooms and the playground.
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