Queer Theatre? Count Me In!
I love going to the theatre, and in the last few weeks I have been lucky enough to go to two very different, very fabulous, queer musicals: After the Act and The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs. Intrigued? I was too. And, honestly, if a show contains lesbians, I don’t need any further persuading. (Please note: there are some minor spoilers ahead!)
After the Act, Royal Court Theatre 14.06.25
My partner passes me their phone.
“I think you’d like this show”, they said.
I look down and two particular words stare up at me from the screen:
Abseiling lesbians!
I catch my partner’s eye.
“Hell yes! We’re going”
On the final day of showing, me and my partner went along to the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square to see After the Act, a musical about Section 28, an act that banned the “promotion of homosexuality” in UK schools from 1988 to 2003.
This is an era of history I personally have an interest in ever since, a couple of years ago, I was part of a Virgin Radio programme marking twenty years since the abolition of Section 28. My role, as someone who’s entire school career was post-2003, was to react to stories of the time told by then-students and teachers and discuss how things have changed. As I remember, the show presenters were expecting us to be shocked at how things were and to say that everything has got a lot better now. But, as any queer person knows, this isn’t quite the case.
The play, After the Act, tells the story in the words of the pupils, teachers and activists who lived through it, which reminded me of my participation in that radio show. As the name suggests, After the Act the show is about the legacy of Section 28. Not just the history, but the impact it still has today. With the performance opening with lesbians breaking into a TV studio to protest the bill, I was hooked from the beginning.
I love shows with small casts. Here, there were four actors on stage along with two members making up the band (love to see them on stage too!). At any one time, one, sometimes two, cast members stood addressing the audience. They would be quoting someone who lived through the events, or actively participated in it, while the remaining cast acted out the scene more in the background. Everything was assisted by a set made up of school hall equipment (benches, blackboard, gym horses) and a projected backdrop which gave context including names and dates, but also relevant newspaper articles and location photos.
Highlights of the show for me included the scene where they acted out the Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin book which caused a parent protest outside a primary school in Harringay. This is a book I am aware of but have never had an opportunity to read myself. Including it showed just how absurd the backlash against including gay representation in schools really was (and is). And, of course, I also loved the protest against the bill in the House of Lords which involved the promised abseiling lesbians.
The whole thing really hit home, and I left the theatre in tears – I had a ‘these horrifying things could have happened to me’ moment near the end. But the show did leave us on a more uplifting note and a sense of togetherness which was powerful (and made me emotional).
The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs, Kiln Theatre 28.06.25
This trip was organised by someone at my ace book club – Thank you! - and a group of us all went together, booking out almost the entirety of Circle row C at the Kiln theatre in Kilburn, North West London.
This is a part of town I’d never been to before, so I had to do a bit of exploring and catch a local bus before meeting up with the gang. It was such a fun day!
Arriving at the theatre, I knew nothing about this show going in other than the title (again, if it has lesbians, I’m going). Turns out it’s another musical, this time about an all-lesbian choir. It is also a comedy and was hilariously funny. For example, they really play up stereotypes but in a way that totally works – sapphic lyric changes to the song These are a few of my favourite things included!
The show begins with introducing each of our characters – a mix of people who probably wouldn’t interact otherwise - before bringing them all together to sing in a run-down church hall venue. The older lesbian choir master (a self-named OWL – Older Wiser Lesbian) is really the star of the story, creating this community and keeping it going. As she says, “Harmony happens when we listen to each other”
The first act is about them trying to get a spot to sing at Pride, while the second act opens with their Pride performance, The Incident, and then the drama that follows. It is such a fun story, but it also puts more serious, and very topical, discussions are the forefront. Our characters debate what is means to be a lesbian, who should be included by the term, and lesbian (in)visibility.
The cast of eight include Liz Carr, a disabled wheelchair user, and Mariah Louca, a trans woman, and the story addresses the exclusion of disabled and trans women in lesbian and queer communities. The theatre went silent when these ‘issues’ caused a major argument amongst the group in the second half. I don’t think anyone saw that scene coming and I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.
I also got the feeling there were a lot of queer people, especially women, in the audience which made for a fabulous vibe. And the play is being shown for another couple of weeks at the time of writing, so I do recommend going along if you can!