In my recent hiatus due to illness, my inbox piled high with more than a dozen queer-themed shows to amuse and inform.
In this first of two articles my choices include sex, drag and opera.
As Brighton Fringe enters its last two weeks, why not take a look at 30 And Out – billed as “thirty, flirty and not exactly thriving”. A lesbian coming-of-age story at The Actors, Brighton on 27 and 28 May, it’s a hilarious, sexy and painful portrayal of what it means to be a lesbian; to lose yourself and find yourself again. Written and performed by Kit Sinclair, tickets HERE.
Tania Azevedo’s LGBTQ+ musical theatre season called MT Pride Lab, kicks off at London’s King’s Head from 6 June. Tania told me: “It features stories celebrating forgotten queer icons, missing siblings and found identities”. Sex, Drag and Opera features opera singer and drag artist Freddie Love, penetrating opera’s queer and gender-subversive history.
Julie is an hour-long show diving into the historic Julie D”Aubigny, an opera star, swordswoman and flaming bisexual.
Lifeboats is a new song cycle about the stories and teachings of LGBTQ+ folk giving guidance to future generations.
In My Sister Is Missing budding young sleuth Basil find themselves in the centre of a musical mystery.
Guymart is a comment on gay hook-up apps, fresh from Brighton Fringe; Rockstar looks at the pressures of being in the public eye and bi-erasure, with songs inspired by Queen; Diary Of a Gay Disaster is a musical comedy where three queer women get to grips with their gay panic after finding a teenage diary.
Ground-breaking gay monodrama Self Tape returns for a short run. Written and performed by Michael Batten, and directed by Scott Le Crass, it asks what price will Jonas, a jobbing actor going nowhere with his career, pay to get the parts he’s always dreamed of? Descending into the murky, titillating world of cyber-sex, as a full-on naked web cam model, what depths will he not sink to? It runs 18 June to 2 July, and even has its own sexy underwear sponsor!
Tickets and performance dates HERE
Award-winning Grindr: The Opera has resurfaced with a brand new production and is currently running at London’s Union Theatre until 8 July. Its musical style ranges from Baroque to contemporary pop and it’s got a book, music and lyrics by Erik Ransom, and is directed by William Spencer with musical direction by Aaron Clingham. It’s a daring look at the changing landscape of gay relationships and that great catalyst, the hook-up app Grindr. Tickets- uniontheatre.biz
Direct from London’s West End, Olivier-nominated Cruise is written and performed by Jack Holden. It gets its regional premiere at HOME, Manchester from 20 July to 12 August. Set in 1988 in Soho, it’s based on a true story of what should have been Michael Spencer’s last night on earth following a four-year battle with HIV.
On his last night, he decides to go out with a bang, but – spoiler alert – unexpectedly survives, living to a ripe old age. Given the gift of life, what kind of life will it be? Tickets at homemcr.org
That’s it – next time look out for naked boys singing and dancing, the world of competitive tickling and the bitter revenge of a thwarted panto dame!
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