history

Cowbois, Royal Court Theatre

by Laura Kressly

Revolutions are rarely peaceful. The queer one that unfolds in Charlie Josephine’s expansive new play is no different. Yet, heaps of trans and queer joy contrast this violence. Combined, they make a well-balanced celebration and act of resistance. Set in an isolated mountain town’s saloon during the American Gold Rush, the story is immensely ambitious and imaginative in scope but would benefit from further narrative focusing and addressing a couple of the more difficult themes that arise.

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Cassie Workman: Aberdeen, Soho Theatre

by Zahid Fayyaz

Fresh from a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Cassie Workman brings her lyrical 55-minute poem to the intimate upstairs space at the Soho Theatre. A spoken-word performance of uncommon intensity, it tells the fictional and fantastical story of the narrator traveling back in time to try to save Kurt Cobain from committing suicide. It touches on additional, more universal themes and issues however, so it isn’t just for the Kurt Cobain fans to enjoy.

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Gunter, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by an anonymous guest critic

This show is the very modern telling of a witch trial that you’ve likely never heard of. In 1605, in a small town in Oxfordshire after an altercation at a football match, Brian Gunter tries to get his neighbour Elizabeth Gregory hung as a witch, blaming his daughter Annie’s mysterious illness on her. Without wanting to spoil the story, it doesn’t quite work out as he planned.

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Glass Ceiling Beneath the Stars, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

In 1992, Nasa’s shuttle launch Endeavour STS-47 had two firsts in its crew: an African American woman, and a married couple. Though the first is a major achievement in terms of racial equality and representation, the media was far more interested in whether or not the married couple had sex in space. A cast of five women use this remarkable, real-life history to consider racism and misogyny at NASA and more widely in this highly visual show.

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After the Act, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

by Laura Kressly

Section 28, the British law that prohibited the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality by local authorities, was passed in 1998 by Margaret Thatcher’s government. Though repealed in 2000 in Scotland and 2003 in England and Wales, Ellice Stevens (she/her) & Billy Barrett’s (he/him) verbatim musical demonstrates the harm this legislation caused on millions of queer people, and serves as a warning against today’s rampant transphobia.

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Behold! The Monkey Jesus, Jack Studio Theatre

By Luisa De la Concha Montes

This is a new play co-created by Scott Le Crass & Joe Wiltshire Smith exploring religion and creativity through effective humour. The play opens with Spanish painter, Elías García Martínez (Roger Parkins), entering the stage dancing to Rosalía, setting the mood for his camp, tender and charismatic character. Promptly after, a vibrant dialogue ensues.

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Family Tree, Brixton House

by Luisa De la Concha Montes

This is an innovative play that presents the true history of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cancer cells were used to create the first immortalised human cell line. It opens with a rhythmic, spoken-word monologue delivered by Henrietta (Aminita Francis). We soon learn that her DNA, nicknamed by herself as “Did Not Ask”, was non-consensually taken from her body in 1951. It has since served as the key basis for medical research, including the development of HIV vaccines, investigation of cancer cells and more recently, the COVID vaccine.

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Emily Wilson: Fixed, Soho Theatre

by Zahid Fayyaz

After previous runs at the Soho Theatre in the upstairs space and at Edinburgh Fringe, this American comedian returns to the to the bigger cabaret space for her most recent, hour-long set. This is the story of Emily Wilson’s starring role in the first X-Factor USA, first as part of a duo and then later in an ill-advised, 10 kid group.

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Fanboy, VAULT Festival

by Zahid Fayyaz

Fresh from a month’s run at the Edinburgh Fringe and then Soho Theatre, Fanboy is a one-man show written and acted by Joe Sellman-Leava. It is seemingly autobiographical, looking at changes in society through the lens of the Star Wars fandom. Using videos and props to develop the story of the piece, it’s certainly not static, which can often be an issue with one-person shows.

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Theatre of Gulags, VAULT Festival

by Luisa De la Concha Montes

Theatre of Gulags tells a story of art and resistance within USSR labour camps. Panning across five detached, yet narratively linked stages, this theatrical installation follows the story of four artists: theatre director Les Kurbas, director Natalya Sats, musician Vadim Kozin and writer and puppeteer Hava Volovich.

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