I am super excited to share with you that I’ll be directing the brilliant new play, GOING OUT OUT by the even more brilliant Barney Norris, which will open at HOME in Manchester in October.
The show is a beautiful, sensitive, gentle piece of theatre about a man who starts doing drag in his 60s to deal with his grief after his wife dies. It’s a surprising, quietly powerful piece of work about friendship, queerness, and overcoming shame.
Exploring the friendship between an older man and a drag queen, the show is an antidote to cancel culture - a space where people can ask questions, get things wrong, and be welcomed in all their messy imperfection.
It’s also a show about families, queerness and grief - and how we tidy ourselves up to fit in. Weaving together Barney’s gorgeous dialogue with existing pop songs from Chapell Roan to Dusty Springfield, the show is sensitive and emotional and wild and spectacular all at once.
I’ve been developing the show with Barney and HOME for the past two years, and now with the help of incredible commercial producer Karl Sydow, we’re able to share it with you. If you happen to be in Manchester in October/November - come and see us. And if you’re in London - watch this space ;)
“The best drag would be me, dressed as me, but not ashamed.”
- Ian in Going Out Out by Barney Norris
Creative team:
Writer: Barney Norris
Director & Dramaturg: Jess Edwards
Set & Costume: Miriam Nabarro
Light: Adam Foley
Sound & Composer: Duramaney Kamara
Musical Director: Jordan Paul Clarke
Cast:
Ian: James Quinn
Raz: Darren Kuppan
Lauren: Verity Henry
Book tickets here.
Would you be interested in hearing more about the design process for this show? Drop me a line in the comments if you’d be curious and I can do a mini series on how we came to the beautiful design.
Thanks for reading, right to the end. I’ll see you next week. You’re brilliant.
J x