After the Act (Photo by Alex Brenner) EM Williams, Ellice Stevens, Tika Mu'tamir, Zachary WillisWritten by Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett the show with musical material composed by Frew (largely comprising lyrics of questionable finesse shoehorned into a clubby beat)takes the audience on a frenetic, politically charged, gay-centric journey through the mid-80s.
Anyone on the periphery of mainstream society at that time, will have no difficulty recalling the hostile era which was dominated by an ultra-Conservative, reactionary orthodoxy, whose vehement exponents believed that any portrayal of gays and lesbians in the media (with the exception of the fundamentally non-sexual and unthreatening Larry Grayson and John Inman) was wholly unacceptable and not only to be discouraged, but stamped-out. Tabloids of all political persuasions promoted a belief that the dye-haired, boot-wearing, hairy-lipped, harridan lesbians who breached security at BBC Broadcasting Centre and the House of Lords, were an unacceptable societal abnormality and a scourge likely to infect and influence innocent children. Thus in a rush of rabid hysteria, parliament approved The Local Government Act 1988 with its clause 28 which specifically prohibited promotion, teaching, inclusion, consideration or understanding of such unmentionables at schools in moderate Labour-run London councils like Haringey, or indeed anywhere else. Homosexuality was once again effectively demonised and criminalised.
Rather than developing a character-based narrative like Billy Elliott or Everyone's Talking about Jamie the creators have chosen to reanimate significant personal recollections gleaned from the interview transcripts of those who were present when Thatcher and her admirers held sway over the nation and dictated what it meant to be British, decent and normal.
The conviction and passion with which the material is handled speaks volumes about the performers and their desire to be involved in meaningful and thought-provoking work. They may not all end up dazzling audiences in West End spectaculars, but one wonders if that would really be their bag anyway. With choreography by Sung Im Her, the four cast members - Tiku Mu’tamir, Ellie Stevens, EM Williams and Zachary Willis commit wholly to the material conjuring oodles of energy and creating some genuinely moving moments — which goes a long way to demonstrating how far societal attitudes have changed since those dark days, whilst at the same time effectively celebrating the hard won victories secured against overwhelming bigotry, cruelty and ignorance.
