Tonight was a vibrant and celebratory evening
of new writing for / by the LGBTQ+ community. Through a variety of mediums including:
short plays, monologues, spoken word, film, and dance - Hope Theatre Company promoted their ethos of
diversity and equality.
This important evening allowed for a range
of writer's voices to be heard and a plethora of themes and topics to be deconstructed, leading to the overall success of the evening. Each showing brought new ideas
to consider and elicited a different response from the audience. Events like this
are vital in trying to reflect Manchester's rich LGBTQ+ community and make the
world a safer and better place.
I will now write about a few programme works
that stood out.
Kings of Idle Land by Connor Hunt was about two school friends hanging out at a park,
one afternoon. One friend accepted he was gay, the other did not. This was
about a young man coming to terms with his sexuality, and he learnt that accepting
and loving himself was essential. To quote the play, "You are you, and you
don't need to apologise for that."
The Verbatim monologues, performed throughout
the evening, were written utilising the words of real people. Without question,
it was a strong directorial choice to incorporate this into the evening: making
it all the more real and resonating.
His Hands, a
short film by Little Deer Films was intriguing and captivating. Due to the
metaphorical nature of the film, it could have been about a lot of things, but
I liked that because each person would have had a slightly different interpretation.
The film was about an elderly man and a young man, who may or may not have been
a younger version of himself. The young men appeared determined to ruin the
life of the elderly man. Perhaps, it was about confronting your inner demons or
a homophobia related hate crime. The sound design was fantastic, every slam of a
door to the movement of a cup on a saucer was intense and impactful. You could
also read the film to be about inner dark sexual energy or male dominance and
aggression; the notion that pain is pleasure. The ambiguity of the film made it
completely engrossing. The eerily evocative imagery made the film memorable. Visually
poetic.
Keaton Lansley gave an engaging performance
in a monologue called Convert. It was from the perspective of someone
who didn't like gay people but then changed his mind. This mini-performance
explored the influence of a religious upbringing and what is stereotypically
masculine.
MJ Manning not only danced but acted well too in, I Know Why The Gay Man Dances. This
was the title and main focus point for the dance. While the spoken word that
played alongside the dance was inspiring and well structured, I can't help feel
it wasn't needed. For the most part, it felt like the monologue was there to
justify what the dance was about. I think you could have got the story from the
dance itself. There were themes of personal restriction and release: seen in
the twisted and contorted movements and the more open and fluid gestures. The
beautifully subtle lighting design (at times cold and claustrophobic, other times
warm and tender) enhanced the quality of Manning's movement and shaping. It was
a feel good, self-expressive dance piece.
One more thing to quickly note, Sue
McCormick's one liners in the comedy, There's Something I Need To Say, were
a total knockout. An thoroughly hilarious actress.
While some actors were stronger than others,
and a couple of show pieces felt like their story was not complete, it was a good
evening of theatre advocating a wonderful cause. I hope it will continue in the
future. The diverse programme of works were very well put together. It was just
as much a celebration of the arts as it was of people.
Reviewer - Sam Lowe
On - 17/9/18
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