Queers celebrates a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in British gay history, as seen through the eyes of individuals. Poignant and personal, funny, tragic and riotous, these monologues for male and female performers cover major events such as the Wolfenden Report of 1957, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the debate over the age of consent through deeply affecting and personal rites of passage stories. A collaborative evening of performances to remind you how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go. This is a fundraising production to support the BrickByBrick campaign to renovate our theatre.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

In the heat of civil war a mother abandons her son, and the responsibility to rear the child falls upon Grusha, a servant girl. She sacrifices everything in order to respectfully raise the young boy as her own, but when the biological mother returns a debate arises as to who the rightful mother of the boy is. This is a fresh and powerful translation of Brecht's incendiary masterpiece by one of the most respected translators in modern literature.

The Little Tempest

Shakespeare’s classic tale of revenge, love, mischief and forgiveness is brought to life in a riot of colour, music and magic in an adaptation for all the family. When the sorcerer Prospero conjures up a storm to shipwreck his enemies, he sets the scene for an enchanting tale of spells, monsters, revenge and romance.

Once grande dames of Hollywood, by 1962 arch-rivals Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were in danger of becoming has-beens. Then an opportunity came along; to appear together in a new movie called Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?. While Joan manages her anxiety by lacing her Pepsi with vodka and signing photographs for her beloved fans, Bette chain smokes and muses on her love life, and her ability to pick a decent script, never a decent man. Behind the bitching and the practical jokes we see each woman's insecurities and regrets, and their rivalry is revealed to be underpinned by grudging respect as they attempt to identify their new roles in life as well as in their careers.

Tony and Greg seem to have love all figured out. They're in a committed relationship, but there has always been room in their relationship for other people to pass through - as long as that's all they're doing! Their only rule is they don't sleep with the same man more than once. But when Robert becomes a fixture in their lives, it will test their relationship as everything they thought they knew about each other is thrown into jeopardy.

Quarantined in his aunt's and uncle's stuffy flat, ten-year-old Tom is restless and bored. Intrigued by a grandfather clock, Tom is startled one night to hear it strike 13! Slipping out of bed he discovers a beautiful 1880s Victorian garden, which before was just a small back yard. In the garden he meets unhappy orphan, Hatty. A special friendship develops between Tom and Hatty as they share fun and adventures together in the magical garden. Philippa Pearce's 1950s classic is brilliantly adapted for the stage by David Wood.

A soirée in the French Alps in 1940 unites celebrated writers Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, and Agatha Christie with a mysterious guest. France is hours away from falling to Germany, antisemitism is sweeping across Europe, and a little war is brewing among these exceptional women as they battle each other, their own personal demons, and the question of what meaningful difference individual actions can make against the tide of war, prejudice, and genocide.
When the world is at war and the risks of speaking out couldn’t be higher - would you stay silent?

I Dream Before I Take The Stand

In a courtroom, a woman takes the stand and is cross examined by a very clever and highly manipulative defence lawyer. In the world of western justice where an alleged criminal is innocent until proven guilty; the accuser is guilty until proven innocent… What we witness as a result is pithy, poignant, surprising, appalling, brutal, funny and altogether unbelievably believable. This is for any woman – or any person, taking an walk in the park.

Black Mountain

Rebecca and Paul are running away. Away from memories and mistakes. They're trying to save their relationship. They need time and space. An isolated house in the country is the perfect place to work things out. They set themselves rules: they have to be honest, they have to listen and they have to be fair. But you can't run forever. Especially when you're being followed. Black Mountain is a tense psychological thriller about betrayal and forgiveness.

Warning: This production contains themes of abuse (physical, mental, verbal, sexual) and stalking. It also contains some mid to moderate violence.

“I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all.”

Penniless young playwright William Shakespeare is tormented by writer’s block and indebted to two ruthless producers who need a new play from him quick. Out of ideas and cash, Will’s luck changes when he meets the beautiful Viola de Lesseps, whose fiery passion for poetry and drama captures Will’s heart and ignites his imagination. Under the veil of secrecy, Will and Viola’s passionate love affair becomes the basis of the very play he is writing – Romeo and Juliet. Will it all work out in the end or are the two star-crossed lovers destined for tragedy?

Winning no less than seven Oscars, the film became an instant classic and is considered one of the most romantic movies of all time. Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, this epic Elizabethan extravaganza is an exuberant, witty and joyous homage to love, art and theatre itself.

“A joyous celebration of theatre” Daily Telegraph
“Makes you feel grateful to be alive” Independent

Sir Harcourt Courtly is lured away from the epicentre of fashionable London by the promise of a rich and beautiful bride, Grace, several decades his junior. Arriving at Oak Hall, Gloucestershire, he marvels at this rural Venus until her charms are eclipsed by her hearty cousin, the foxhunting Lady Gay Spanker. Meanwhile his disguised son turns up in flight from his creditors and falls head over heels for Grace. When Lady Spanker discovers the young couple, she needs little prompting from the visiting chancer Dazzle to lead Sir Harcourt astray. This comedy by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault was first produced in 1841, and was a bridge between Sheridan's comedies of manners from the late 18th Century to the late 19th Century comedies of Oscar Wilde.

An exciting, extraordinary imagining of the turbulent lives of the Bronte sisters, their brother, Branwell and their father, Patrick. The play evokes the real and imagined world of the sisters as they write furiously, struggling to align their creations with real life whilst their fictional characters appear to haunt them. Weaving back and forth in time focusing on their creation of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights respectively, their journeys are a window into their state of mind at a time when their lives were dreary and uneventful.

Warning: This production contains mentions of alcoholism, Ill health and death. Also contains some brief violence.

It’s 1936. As the world stands on the brink of war, King Edward VIII has abdicated for the love of Wallis Simpson. Bertie, his brother who has previously shied away from the public eye because of a terrible stammer, is to be crowned King George VI of England. With the support of his wife Elizabeth (the future much-loved Queen Mother), Bertie meets Maverick Australian speech therapist and failed actor, Lionel Logue, at an office in Harley Street. This is the true and heart-warming story of one man’s struggle to overcome his disability and, in his country’s darkest hour, deliver the now iconic speech broadcast across the globe to inspire his people.

Chaos, by Laura Lomas

Chaos is a symphony of dislocated and interconnected scenes. A girl is locked in a room. A boy brings another boy flowers. A girl has tied herself to a railing. A boy doesn't know who he is. A girl worries about impending catastrophe. A woman jumps in front of a train. A boy's heart falls out his chest. A butterfly has a broken wing. A series of characters search for meaning in a complicated and unstable world. Bouncing through physics, the cosmos, love and violence, they find order in the disorder of each other.

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, adapted by Alan Bennett

The inquisitive Mole abandons spring-cleaning his burrow and, to his delight, discovers the river. There he meets Ratty, a water vole with a passion for boats. Over at Toad Hall, the ebullient Toad persuades them to join an excursion in a horse-pulled caravan – only for disaster to strike when they are overturned into a ditch. But the accident ignites Toad’s passion for motorcars… And Mole can’t resist the temptation of another adventure, braving the snowy and threatening Wild Wood to find the elusive Badger, who welcomes Mole and Rat into his own cosy home. But can the three friends save Toad from the consequences of his terrible driving, and defeat their enemies, the hungry and wily weasels and ferrets? Alan Bennett's brilliant adaptation of The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame, one of the all-time great animal stories and a true classic of children's literature.

Alice Springs. 2039. A fish falls from the sky – it still smells of the sea. It’s been raining for days and Gabriel York knows something is wrong. When the Rain Stops Falling unfolds like a puzzle to be solved. Told through the interconnected stories of two families over four generations; between a prediction in London 1959 and its outcome in Australia eighty years later. This intricate, multi-layered story explores betrayal, abandonment, destruction, forgiveness and love. Where damage to the planet serves as a metaphor for the damage inflicted from generation to generation. Until finally, as the desert is inundated with rain, one young man finds the courage to defy his legacy.

Warning: This production contains mentions of child abuse and references to childhood trauma.

Chatroom

A chilling, blackly comic tale of manipulation, cyberbullying and adolescent insecurity. In a quiet corner of the internet, a group of bored, restless teenagers who never meet each other, spend their time deconstructing children's literature and the messages in modern pop music and even suicide. But when a new member joins to share his depression and thoughts of suicide, the conversation takes a darker turn and some of the teenagers their utmost to persuade him to carry out his threat.

Warning: This production contains reference to suicide and depression and brief mentions to eating disorder.

Taken

A young woman (and her baby) seeks shelter in Della’s council flat, claiming to have been the victim of a robbery. Suspicion about the woman’s motives grow as she introduces herself as the owners long-lost daughter. Della and her elderly mother are preparing for their weekly treat - watching Strictly. As the narrative unravels and turns, it touches on questions of belonging, memory, family, truth love and addiction - ending with an unsettling twist.

Warning: This production contains mentions of drug/alcohol/substance abuse and a depiction of early-stage Alzheimers/Dementia.

Wizzpopping wonder and fruit-filled fun abound in this stage adaption of Roald Dahl's greatest adventure story. James is a lonely child who is forced to work like a slave for the most revolting aunts in England. One day a mystical figure gives James a bag of magic. When the magic is accidentally spilled near the old peach tree, the most incredible things happen! Come and see James and their new friends, Old-Green-Grasshopper, Miss Spider, Centipede, Earthworm, and Ladybird, on their epic journey across the Atlantic this Christmas with fun and spectacle for the whole family!

Set in County Kerry, Stones In His Pockets tells the story of how a small town becomes wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood as the big stars and a host of technical/support staff arrive. The idea behind the film is to create an authentic picture of rural Ireland and thus most of the locals are cast as extras. When tragedy takes hold within the small town, the impact of the production on the local community quickly becomes apparent with Tinseltown's romanticised idea of rural Ireland a long way from reality.

Warning: This production contains the themes of suicide, self-harm, and alcohol and substance abuse. It also contains language that may give offence, sex references, and discriminatory language.

Join us for this unique and magical production, celebrating 150 years at SEA LIFE Brighton. Shakespeare’s classic tale of revenge, love, mischief and forgiveness is brought to life by Brighton Little Theatre, in a riot of colour, music, puppetry and magic in a new site-specific adaptation for all the family. The Little Tempest will take the audience through SEA LIFE Brighton, following the inhabitants of the enchanted island.

Running time: 1hr Suitable for ages 5+