Tuesday, 5 July 2022

THEATRE REVIEW: The Day The World Came To Huddersfield - The King's Arms Theatre, Salford.


The 4th of July 1981 in Huddersfield, the first Gay Pride march to be held outside of London; but I don’t suppose you knew that. This portion of history is not well documented. Producer Stephen M Hornby has attempted to write that wrong with 'The Day The World Came To Huddersfield', a series of new monologues set during the 1981 march.

Despite the play comprising of monologues, I did not feel like the play was disjointed in any way. The performances moved smoothly from one to another and all felt connected. The praise here must go to the directors, Helen Parry and Olivia Schofield for creating a seamless set of stories. They all had a different story to tell, but they were all involved in Huddersfield’s first Gay Pride march. The 10 characters were all extremely well established and fleshed out. The actors weren’t merely telling a story; they had embodied their characters completely.

Simon Hallman, who played John Addy; owner of the only gay bar in Huddersfield, opened the show. And he did so in such a way that the audience were instantly relaxed and welcomed, therefore having us laughing within the first minute. Jo Dakin followed Hallman, playing the character of Avril Barton. She succeeded in keeping the audience relaxed and entertained, even sitting on one audience member’s lap. The next two actors; Sapphire Brewer-Marchant and Emily Spowage had tales to tell that intertwined and so they shared the stage, which was a lovely, subtle change of pace. Their performances ended in a soft and intimate way, almost forgetting that we were watching them. In stark contrast to that, the next performance was by Patrick Price, who played Mark Ashton, the highly comical and perhaps at times over-sharing gay man talking about hit first sexual experience. Price embodied the character wonderfully, even his movements had us in hysterics. A few members of the audience were also surprised to learn that his Northern Irish accent for the production was not his own. Iman Borono then took to the stage as possibly the only openly gay Muslim, Iftikhar; followed by James Steventon as deep-voiced glamorous drag queen Bunny; then Martin Green as David Milton, Nathan Morris as Martin and finally Jude Leath as Harley.

I cannot remember the last show I saw with a large cast in which every single actor shone. Although never really performing at the same time, this was an ensemble production in which the 10 cast members all succeeded in bringing joy, sorrow and laughter to a packed King’s Arms Theatre. Although the actors were brilliant, praise for this must also go to the writers; Stephen M Hornby, Abi Hynes, Peter Scott-Presland and Hayden Sugden. Such captivating tales with a common theme but so different in tone. We were taken on an emotional journey and were so invested in every character, the true mark of good writing.

Not only was this production entertaining but it needs to be seen. The historical context is so important still today. Their run at the Manchester Fringe has now come to an end, but I sincerely hope that this production is put on again. It deserves to be seen by so many more people.

Reviewer - Megan Relph
on - 3.7.22

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