Little Johhny Gets Hitched

“I’ve been reading a lot of books about the process of civil partnerships,” says Johnny McKnight, the writer and performer behind Little Johnny’s Big Gay Wedding. “I have to be honest: it’s all terribly traditional and rather ‘straight’ and boring. I’m chucking those books in the bin. Where’s the campery? The sing-alongs? The wedding dresses? There’s nowhere that even mentions Kelly-Marie’s classic hit It Feels Like I’m in Love. My wedding will be a Gay Wedding, getting all my family and friends in one room. There will be nothing Civil about it!”

Big Gay Wedding is the final part of Random Accomplice’s Little Johnny trilogy. According to McKnight, the first part, Big Gay Adventure, was about “coming out and discovering new stuff about yourself.” The second, Big Gay Musical, focused on “coming to terms with who you are as a person.” This final episode is “about love, how you find love, who are the people who love you and do you have to love them back.” Or, as director and collaborator Julie Brown says when speaking about this, 'Looking for Love Trilogy', they’re about sex, rejection and then a (hopefully) happy conclusion.

Big Gay Wedding is set during Johnny’s wedding reception, complete with live band, service staff and arranged seating. For this final part, Random Accomplice has teamed with the National Theatre of Scotland and is performing the play at the Langside Halls. “It is a reception,” says McKnight, “so I’d love it if people turned up dressed for the occasion – hats, fascinators, kilts, the lot!” Speaking about the dress code, Brown says that “All the publicity issued the line about ‘dress fabulously’. For some, that will mean wearing a hat, and for others it’s about giving their jeans a rest.”

In preparing for the production, McKnight is finding himself slipping into a famous wedding stereotype. “I’m obviously fulfilling the prophecy that all brides must metamorphosise into Bridezilla. I seem to have developed a terrible habit for wanting to know every detail. I caught myself asking about the stitching in the tablecloths the other day and that’s when I realised ‘Houston, we have a loose rampant bride on the loose!'

“Funnily enough, I don’t think of it as a ‘gay wedding’,” says Brown. “To me, it’s simply Johnny’s wedding.” Brown’s role in the production seems to be growing by the day; not only is she directing, she is also performing. “I’ll be Johnny’s bridesmaid. My participation seems to be growing on a daily basis. However, this is not a clash of the egos. It’s all about driving the story forward…honest!!!”

Also driving the story forward will be the wedding band. “For this show,” says Brown, “we decided we wanted a classic wedding band, classic wedding songs and a classic first dance. Immediately on the first rehearsal we changed our minds about everything. Our band is now as much a driving force of the stories as Johnny and I.”

“There’s a combination of original music and some classic wedding tunes,” adds McKnight, “from the tacky first dances to a couple of songs that genuinely mean something special to me. I think, musically, it’s pretty ambitious and exciting. And of course, there will be a mini-camp-classic disco afterwards which I’m hoping folk will get up on the floor to.”

In speaking about creating this final chapter, McKnight says that “The biggest challenge is trying to find a closing chapter to the series. I want it to be reflective of where I am as a person, but also want it to speak to people that, like me, are now starting to grow older, none-the-wiser but are having those thoughts that maybe they might never meet someone – and maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

And how does McKnight define a Little Johnny show to someone who has yet to see any of the trilogy? He offers this definition with a smile: “It is a life-affirming celebration of being a fucked-up thirty-something Scottish person.” His smile grows into a warm laugh. “Well, that’s how I think of myself anyway.”