Old Compton Street in Soho is a place of fabulousness, where gay men and women can wander hand in hand, drink double skinny no-foam cappuccinos (with cinnamon) on the pavements, and compare the size of their blackberries. A veritable Land of Oz. - but how many people know how they got there, or how the yellow brick road is haunted by the ghosts of far braver men then they.
It is part of the Stonewall legend that until the drag queen patrons of that New York bar stood up to the cops following yet another raid on June 28 1969, there was no gay liberation movement. In fact there were brave groups dedicated to achieving some kind of liberation, but these men were afraid of upsetting anyone (protestors on marches were urged to wear ties and have short and neat hairstyles).
In writer/director Rikki Beadle-Blairs stage version of his own film script we meet young Matty Dean (Joel Dommett) fresh of the bus from Hicksville, and come to New York to be himself. He immediately falls in with the drag queens and transgender folk at The Stonewall Bar, and is instantly smitten by Alexis Gregorys La Miranda. Beadle-Blair uses this love story (which soon becomes a difficult love triangle when Joe also falls for one of the straight acting members of a protest group, Ashley Cooks Ethan), to explore the problem of just how you can be yourself. A huge problem facing gay men then was that they didnt actually like themselves for being gay, the whole concept of Pride being in its infancy. That Ethans staid protest group is delighted to have homosexuality diagnosed officially as a disease (it means its not their fault) shows just how conflicted people were.
What could be a rather worthy and polemic exercise is anything but, as this eight strong ensemble imbue the tale with amazing guts, glam and more glitter than I have seen on any stage ever. The acting is strong, especially heart-breaking from Gregory and Beadle-Blair himself as the matriarchal Bostonia, who finds the strength to finally say enough is enough and begin the riots the lasted for days and changed the world.
My main criticism is the structure of the piece, which feels episodic and choppy. The lip-synching numbers, though colourful and fun, occasionally interrupt rather than enhance the build of the story. Also, considering there is so much tinsel and glitter on the stage, some of it is strangely under lit. Its also ten minutes longer than its advertised running time this is very naughty in Edinburgh, where people have often made plans to see other shows and are on a deadline. However, that last ten minutes is actually the best and most moving ten minutes of the show, and the day I saw it the audience rose to applaud not only the actors but also the bravery of those characters who really lived through these momentous events.
So this is a flawed production, but you have to see it. You have to see it because they never teach this stuff in school. You have to see it because I was chatting to a couple of young guys the other day and they had never heard of Stonewall and they were both gay. You have to see it because these events depicted occurred barely two decades after half a million queers were gassed by the Nazis, and because in some parts of the world they are still being stoned to death. We have to keep telling this story again and again.
Lest we forget.
