The Lot Productions and Queer Was Always Here Partner to Increase Accessibility to the Arts for LGBTQIA+ Youth

The Lot Productions and Queer Was Always Here (QWAH) are collaborating to increase accessibility to the arts for young people within the LGBTQIA+ community, giving them an opportunity to engage with their history. 

 

The first initiative is a ticket scheme which offers thirty £20 (best available) tickets for What It Means at Wilton's Music Hall for performances between 4 October to 14 October. What it Means, is a piece of original writing by James Corley based on Merle Miller's seminal 1971 essay “What It Means to Be a Homosexual” and runs from the 4 - 28 October with the press night on the 9 October. 

 

The code QWAH20 will be shared on QWAH and The Lot Productions' social media today with further announcements including fundraisers to follow. 

 

QWAH was born from a print run of t-shirts to raise money for LGBTQIA+ causes that became a viral success. The founders Sebastian Croft [Ben Hope in Heartstopper] and Connor Jessup [Locke & Key, American Crime] decided to form an organisation that now partners with Choose Love and has raised over £250,000 for a range of grassroots groups that work with LGBTQIA+ refugees and displaced people around the world.  

 

Harry Mackrill, the director of What It Means, and Creative Director of The Lot Productions said today, “The Lot Productions are delighted to be partnering with Queer Was Always Here (QWAH) in telling the true story behind one of the most impactful pieces of writing ever published in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality.  

 

“When meeting Connor and Sebastian, we found an incredible affinity between our own vision of Independent Theatre with an inclusive mindset and their vision of creating a community dedicated to queer joy, queer art, and queer history.  

 

“Merle Miller is a figure often sidelined in queer history, and we are thrilled, that our first campaign with QWAH will introduce his story of courage and quiet protest to a new generation.” 

 

Sebastian Croft, the co-founder of Queer Was Always Here added, “Engaging young queer people with their history is a big part of our mission, which is why we're so excited to be offering reduced youth tickets to our community. What It Means brings an essential character from queer history to life with profound insight, humour, and compassion. Merle Miller remains fiercely urgent, and we can't wait for people to meet him.” 

 

What It Means is an adaptation of Merle Miller's seminal essay What It Means to be a Homosexual. Printed in 1971 in the New York Times and published as On Being Different by Penguin. This act of bravery and quiet protest has become a defining part of the LGBTQ+ rights movement as we know it today. An emotional, one-person voyage through history - some personal, some not - What It Means speaks directly to audiences about the importance of standing up for what you believe in, accepting the validity of one's own voice and taking a courageous step onto the platform that is offered to you. 

 

 

Nisha Oza for The Lot Productions presents                                                                                           

WHAT IT MEANS                                                                               

 

By James Corley 

 

4 - 28 October 2023 

Press night: 9 October at 7.30pm 

 

Cast: Richard Cant and Cayvan Coates 

 

Directed by Harry Mackrill; Set and costume design by Justin Arienti; Lighting design by Martha Godfrey; Sound design by Beth Duke; Artistic Associate: Ayesha Antoine 

 

The true story behind one of the most impactful pieces of writing ever published in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. 

 

September 1970. A year after the Stonewall Riots, Harper's Magazine publish the now notorious article 'Homo/hetero: the struggle for sexual identity'. Acclaimed journalist and former editor of Harper's Magazine, Merle Miller reads the article from his home in upstate New York and decides to take a stand. 

 

September 1971. Merle sits at his desk and begins to write. Part man, part memory he invites the audience to join him on an incredible journey of his life from provincial Iowa to the pages of the New York Times. 

 

What It Means is an emotional voyage through history - some personal, some not, highlighting the importance of standing up for what you believe in, accepting the validity of one's own voice and taking a courageous step onto the platform that is offered to you however long it may take. 

 

“There it was, out at last, and if it seems like nothing very much, I can only say that it took a 

long time to say it, to be able to say it, and none of the journey was easy.” Merle Miller 

 

As Merle crashes into our world, audiences are witnesses to his protest and companions in his reflection, as he writes the article he has been avoiding for a lifetime. The article in question, What It Means to Be a Homosexual, is a public declaration of identity, a rallying cry for equality and – ultimately – part of the fabric of protest that formed the modern LGBTQ+ movement. 

 

“For a 20-year-old gay man like myself, who had never read anything positive about gay people in the New York Times, Miller's article was a gigantic source of hope.” Charles Kaiser, The Guardian 

 

What It Means reunites the trio of writer, director and producer behind the critically acclaimed World's End.  

 

James Corley's theatre credits include World's End (King's Head Theatre, Queer Season 2019). For film his credits include Bone by Bone, Sources, The Scene, and The Yellow Room.  

 

Richard Cant plays Merle. For theatre, his work includes The Vortex (Chichester Festival Theater), Orlando (MGC at the Garrick Theatre), Handbagged, Wife (Kiln Theatre), The Normal Heart, Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear (National Theatre), Talent (Sheffield Theatres), After Edward, Edward the Second (Shakespeare's Globe), Maydays, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing (RSC), Saint Joan (Donmar Warehouse), My Night with Reg (Donmar Warehouse/Apollo Theatre), Medea (Almeida Theatre), The Trial (Young Vic), War Horse (New London Theatre), Salome (Headlong), Troilus and Cressida, Cymbeline (Cheek by Jowl), Original Sin, The Country Wife (Sheffield Theatres), Other People (Royal Court Theatre), Pera Palas (Gate Theatre), The Canterbury Tales (Garrick Theatre) and Charley's Aunt (York Theatre Royal). His television credits include The Crown, It's a Sin, Silent Witness, Taboo, Outlander, Bleak House and The Way We Live Now; and for film, My Policeman, Mary Queen of Scots, Stan and Ollie, Sparkle, (Past Present Future) Imperfect and The Lawless Heart. 

 

Cayvan Coates plays Boy From Pittsburgh. His theatre credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- time (National Theatre). 

 

Harry Mackrill directs. His theatre includes Road (Synergy Theatre Project), World's End, Boy With Beer (King's Head Theatre), and Let Kilburn Shake (Kiln Theatre). Film includes Led By The Child (The Lot), Adjustments (The Lot/If Opera), Amber (Synergy Theatre Project). As Associate Director, his credits include Angels in America, Peter Gynt, The Motherfucker with the Hat (National Theatre), and Handbagged (Tricycle, West End, UK Tour, Washington).  

 

www.thelotproductions.com 

Instagram and Twitter: @thelotprods 

 

LISTINGS                                                                                                                                      WHAT IT MEANS 

Wilton's Music Hall                                                                                                                                                 

1 Graces Alley, London E1 8JB 

 

4-28 October 2023                                                                                                                                                  

Press Night: 9 October at 7:30pm 

Tickets from £13 

 

Box Office: http://www.wiltons.org.uk/ 020 7702 2789 

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