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Review: Dumbledore Is So Gay, VAULT Festival

Who couldn’t love a LGBT+ rom-com – Robert Holtom and Tom Wright’s Dumbledore Is So Gay is like a gorgeously warm embrace at the VAULT Festival

“It’s not how I imagined it, but it’s great”

There’s something beautifully sweet about Dumbledore Is So Gay, a LGBT+ rom-com set in a world of magical realism that gives you hope that things can sometimes get better. Written by Robert Holtom (The Cluedo Club Killings) and directed by Tom Wright (My Dad’s Gap Year, which I now wish I’d seen), it is an adorably funny piece of theatre with a fair amount of potential.

Age 12, Jack can’t stop getting a boner in French class every time he looks at his best friend Ollie but as his parents change the channel when Graham Norton comes on, he knows he can’t be honest about himself. As the years go by, key relationships develop but not always in the way he is expecting so at a crucial moment, he decides to whip out his time-turner and do it all over again, only better this time. Continue reading “Review: Dumbledore Is So Gay, VAULT Festival”

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2020 VAULT Festival – 20 shows to see

Insofar as it is humanly possible for any one person to know everything that is happening at the VAULT Festival this year, I present a handful of my recommendations for 2020.

In all honesty though, I think the best thing to do is just pick a night, go down there and see what tickles your fancy – the level of quality here really is something to admire and means it’ll be very hard to end up disappointed. Take a look at their website here.

LGBT+ stories

Body Talk – 29 Jan — 02 Feb
Full Disclosure Theatre take on male body image from the gay perspective, looking at the damage that can be imposed by obsessing over it.

how we love 18 — 23 Feb
Regi and Babs are getting married. She’s a lesbian and he’s gay but they need the cover to deal with the dangers posed by the prevailing attitudes towards homosexuality in Nigeria.

Notch 19 — 23 Feb
After the devilish fun of Ladykiller, the Thelmas return with this dark meditation on migration, homelessness and obsession from Danaja Wass.

V&V 03 — 08 Mar
Exploring communication then and now, V&V contrasts love stories past and present from Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West’s love letters, to Mia and Lottie’s online missives.

Too Pretty To Punch 03 — 08 Mar
A comedy spoken word show from Edalia Day about gender and featuring original songs and video work about trans life in 21st century Britain. Continue reading “2020 VAULT Festival – 20 shows to see”

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Review: The Cluedo Club Killings, King’s Head

A queered-up take on the murder mystery, The Cluedo Club Killings makes the most of a brief new run at the King’s Head Theatre

“I know whodunnit”

The King’s Head Theatre’s six-week Queer Season has allowed for all sorts of LGBTQI+ stories to be told but one of its more pleasing aspects has been the flexibility in the programming, offering opportunities for smaller productions to emerge once again. Guy: a new musical will be popping back to London and after a well-received run at the Arcola earlier this year, Robert Holtom’s The Cluedo Club Killings similarly took the chance to spread its wings once again.

A queered-up take on the murder mystery designed to take on “the cis-het sausage fest” of Morse, Poirot et al, Nat Kennedy’s production is an enjoyably daft thing and is at its best when it fully embraces the glitter-soaked camp and ridiculous OTT-ness at its heart. Stabs of dun-dun-duh music, a shattered fourth wall, lesbian wannabe detective leads, scorchingly funny TV reporters, and a post-modern take on not just detective stories but horror film too – what more could you want.  Continue reading “Review: The Cluedo Club Killings, King’s Head”