Cayvan Coates Joins Richard Cant in WHAT IT MEANS at Wilton's Music Hall

Cayvan Coates joins Richard Cant to complete the cast of What It Means, a new play by James Corley. Directed by The Lot’s Creative Director, Harry Mackrill, the production opens at Wilton’s Music Hall on 9 October, with previews from 4 October, and runs until 28 October.

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. 

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.

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).

Ayesha Antoine is an actor and playwright. She is currently adapting Sam Selvon’s The Housing Lark into a Calypso Opera for The Lot Productions, as part of their ADAPT season. Her theatre includes White Teeth, The Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, The House that will not Stand (Kiln Theatre), Out West (Lyric, Hammersmith), The Suicide (National Theatre), Red Velvet, Dirty Great Love Story (West End) and Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh Company).

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).

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