This Year's Thing

The Luvvies look at how far the LGBT movement has come since the Stonewall Riots of 1969.

Article by Scotty McKellar | 01 Aug 2009

Saturday 28 June 1969 is a landmark date which marks the beginning of the LGBT movement. On the night of Judy Garland’s funeral, a police raid on the Mafia-run Stonewall Inn in New York City turned ugly when the patrons fought back. Finally, the LGBT community was seen as a force to be reckoned with.

This Year's Thing is the latest offering from The Luvvies, Scotland’s only lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangender drama group, and was performed at the Pleasance Cabaret bar over the Pride Scotia weekend. In 1969, while the riots rage in New York, a small group of people huddle in an Edinburgh gay bar talking about what’s happening and what it means to them. There’s Philip (Francis Aiken), inspired by the show of power and eager for change; the pragmatic Susan (Katy Dimmock), who would rather keep things as they are and stay ‘safe’; and finally Laura (Ajay Lu), an outspoken transgender woman who is already subject to police harassment. When two police officers (David Dalzell and an impressive Michael Mills) raid the bar, she endures a vicious beating.

Forty years later, Judy’s, a fictional Edinburgh gay bar, is putting on an event to mark the anniversary of the riots and Judy Garland’s death. As part of the evening's celebrations, a damaged and bitter Laura (now played by co-writer Nicole Dolder), is invited to attend and speak about her experience. It’s an invitation which has unexpected consequences for everyone.

Taken in context with the Pride Scotia weekend celebrations and as part of the celebration of the LGBT movement, This Year’s Thing can be nothing but a success. Going beyond the main story thread of Laura and the attack, the supporting characters each bring in a representative element of the modern LGBT community and provide an effective contrast with those in 1969. It’s hard for many people to even imagine or appreciate the era of criminalisation. This brings it crushingly to life, particularly in a disturbing moment towards the end in which police officers surround the audience. If it all sounds very heavy, that couldn’t be further from the truth, and aside from a slightly over-long confrontation scene between Laura and her attacker, things are generally tongue in cheek and there's a good balance between drama and lighter comedy. More than a few cabaret-style musical numbers are cheekily sprinkled into the proceedings, the best of which coming from the very lively 101 Damnations.

Over two years in development, the play was heavily workshopped by the group with situations and character attitudes clearly inspired by their own experiences and of those around them in the community. Some performances may be raw here and there, but they feel honest and have a reality to them which helps the play overcome the normal trappings of amateur theatre. Despite the great progress that has been made, attitudes like biphobia, transphobia and conflict between ‘lipstick lesbians’ (“we’re too pretty to be lesbians” one character says) and other groups in the LGBT community are still rife in 2009. While celebrating the progress that has been made, writers Andrea McKenzie, Martin Walker and Nicole Dolder cleverly recognise that in defining yourself as x, y or z, it can actually lead to excluding other people and becoming less tolerant of them yourself. They warn that a healthy and progressive community has to be about inclusion, support and understanding. As a celebration of Stonewall and the amazing and brave people who have advanced LGBT rights for the last forty years, This Year's Thing is a confident production with a lot of thought and passion behind it, and a highlight of the Pride Scotia weekend.

http://www.theluvvies.org

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/scotland

http://www.pride-scotia.org