Welcome to this fantastic queer version of world history in which friendships and pleasure are central. The queer community is celebrated here with song and dance, and new myths and fables are born.
The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions is a musical theatre piece based on the cult 1977 novel of the same name by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta. It offers a vision of world history through a queer lens. With a cast of actors, singers, dancers and musicians, this musical version by composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman reworks the original text into a kaleidoscopic journey that blends music and storytelling: look forward to re-enacted battles, as well as cheerleading and raves. Venables’ varied music ventures into Elizabethan lute songs, bossa nova, techno, with occasional moments that would not seem out of place in a Disney musical.
The result is an anarchic, satirical celebration of queer experience that is both vulnerable and daring. Sharing deeply personal stories proves both comforting and healing, as the marginalised are here not side-lined but take centre stage. The world they create constitutes a sharp critique of capitalism, assimilation and patriarchy that continues to be relevant today, when radical change remains needed.
Friends of Philip Venables pointed the novel out to him and Huffman. Venables: ‘The book was all about sex positivity, gender freedom and a self-determined life. For these friends of mine, the book was a kind of bible. I couldn’t get it out of my head.’
'irresistibly, unforgettably compelling' - The Guardian ★★★★
dates
Thu June 13 2024 8:30 PM
Fri June 14 2024 8:30 PM
prices
- default including drink from € 40
- CJP/student/scholar € 15,50
information
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English surtitles: Dutch
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1 hour 45 minutes (zonder pauze)
A message from the makers of this performance:
We recognise that ‘faggot’ is a provocative word – one that for many isn’t easy to read or hear. When Larry Mitchell wrote and published the book in 1977, he sought to reclaim the word in a loving, supportive and positive way. This follows a long process of reclamation by parts of the LGBTQIA+ community of words that have previously been seen as only negative – including using the word queer as a collective term. The inclusion of the word in this production marks that intention and is a deliberate choice by the creative team. Since the book was published in 1977, conversations about gender diversity within the queer community have also evolved, and this is reflected in both the language the show uses and the casting.
I am very eager to experience "The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions" because I believe it shines a very strong light on the universality of activism, not only showing how art can express this activism, but also how art can actually be a form of activism in and of itself, by keeping its finger on the pulse of the society in which we live.
The words of Nina Simone come to mind in anticipation of this performance:
"An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.
Now I think that is true of painters, sculptors, poets,musicians...
As far as I’m concerned it's their choice, but I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself; that to me is my duty as an artist, and at this crucial time of our lives, where everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved. That, to me, is a definition of an artist."
- Claron McFadden
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Collin Shay
© Tristram Kenton
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Kit Green, Yandass
© Tristram Kenton
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Sally Swanson, Jacob Garside
© Tristram Kenton
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Kit Green
© Tristram Kenton
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Sally Swanson, Jacob Garside, Mariamielle Lamagat,, Eric Lamb
© Tristram Kenton
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Deepa Johnny, Meriel Price, Collin Shay, Kit Green, Sally Swanson, Conor Gricmanis, Katherine Goforth
© Tristram Kenton
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Kit Green
© Tristram Kenton
