He was commissioned back in 2018, by Waterside Arts in Sale, to write and perform a show in the lead-up to World AIDS Day (1st December) that year and 'First Time' was born. Dibby Theatre - the theatre and production company he is co-artistic director of - first presented it there before it went on to receive critical and audience acclaim on a tour of the UK and at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In short: “It smashes through the stigma and shame of HIV, to present an uplifting and inspirational guide to staying positive in a negative world.”
With the help of a spreadsheet (an admission of Hall’s during one of the post-show discussions on offer during this run) timeline of dates and years when everything happened leading up to and after his ‘first time’, this inspiring story follows Nathaniel’s real-life journey (through the 2000s) from closeted prom-going 16 year old Head Boy waiting in his hometown of Stockport (in 2003, the same year that Thatcher’s Section 28 was repealed) to pick up a cream tuxedo and inadvertantly meeting a guy who would unknowingly change the course of his life forever, to the incredible specimen of successful determination, passion and activism we witness now.. and boy is that success deserved.
From the highly poignant scenes of excessive drug taking - both recreational and medicinal - to the sadness felt at hearing how he tried to, but couldn’t, tell his parents of his diagnosis or work out what or why things were happening to him, and the educational segment to the audience around the challenging of which were the more risky ways of contracting HIV, this show covers a spectrum of areas that trigger and encourage thoughts of acceptance and empathy. His work with George House Trust (GHT) - who the tour is supporting through proceeds from merchandise - being referenced in parts, we learn that he, as undetectable, is one of the safest to people to have sex with and that treatment is far more effective and easier to access now than back in the '80s when it was considered a plague.
Hall was asked to recite a letter he had written to his 16 year old self - as part of the support from GHT - at a Manchester Pride Vigil one Bank Holiday Monday after the Big Weekend but was too nervous to do so, instead witnessing another actor reading it out. He was later invited back to read it himself for a World AIDS Day vigil which he did. The letter, as at the end of this show, gives insight and context to the word 'hope'. Four letters that mean so much and give so much too. It is hope, and sexual health nurse Sue (who has a heart of gold and Cheadle’s best-stocked lube cupboard), that has given him the drive and life to carry on over the past 15 years and pass on his experience to others whom it can help. To both, we are extremely grateful.
To quote a peer, Hall and the Dibby Theatre team are “radically changing public attitudes to HIV, blending arts with health and education. The show never feels like a lecture but packs a punch in its messaging.”
It is hilarious but fun, poignant but heart-warming, and everyone should see it at least once, whether you have, or know someone has or has had HIV, you are part of the LGTBQ+ community or an ally, or are from Stockport or further afield, please show your support for this immense talent and carefully told story that needs hearing and sharing.
With direction from Chris Hoyle, design by Irene Jade, lighting by Joel Clements and support from Arts Council England, produced by Nathaniel Hall and Ross Carey, details of future dates and venue can be found at nathanieljhall.co.uk/first-
First Time remains at Contact Manchester until Saturday 4th December - contactmcr.com/shows/dibby-
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