There’s a chance to see multi-talented queer theatre-maker Alexis Gregory’s latest monodrama Smoke and also catch his amazing three-in-one queer history drama Riot Act – both in London over the next few weeks.
Directed by the outstanding film and theatre-maker Campbell X, Smoke investigates the blur between reality and fantasy. It’s full of dark humour, like all Alexis’s work, but this time also suspense.
We follow Alex, his mobile phone and his story. He’s haunted by an ex-partner, when he receives a private Instagram message from his now-dead boyfriend’s account.
Alex finds himself in a haphazard and dangerous attempt to uncover the truth. The play confronts today’s obsession with self-documentation, drugs, paranoia and living and dying in a digital age. When privacy no longer exists, where do we draw the line?
It runs late night at the Kings Head Theatre, Islington from November 2-11. Tickets HERE
On December 1, World AIDS Day, there’s a rare opportunity to see Alexis’s staggering Riot Act, which is a solo verbatim show created entirely from interviews with three key players in the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
They are: Michel-Anthony Nozzi, a survivor of the Stonewall Riots; Lavinia Co-op, an alternative ’70s drag artist; and Paul Burston, a prominent ’90s London AIDS activist.
I’ve only seen it online but it’s funny, breathtaking and a white knuckle ride through six decades of queer history.
Tickets at eventbrite – it plays at 21Soho for one night only and is presented by Mulwade Foundation.
Both shows will be reviewed in Scene magazine – look out for them.