(Munich, Mai 2011, Den Haag, Netherlands, January 2012) In 1958, Sputnik 1 burns up as it falls from orbit; “All I Have to do is Dream” is the #1 single; and Philip’s wife, Sylvia, introduces him to the young novelist, Oliver. In 2008, NASA lands on Mars; “Sex on Fire” is the #1 single; and another Philip walks out on another Oliver, leaving another Sylvia to console him. BeMe Theatre is proud to present The Pride, a courageous work ripe with humour and pathos, intricately weaving the sexual attitudes in 1958 and half a century later. We flip back and forth, watching how three characters might have lived, loved and believed in two different time periods. Who are we and how much of who we are is defined by the time in which we live? Alexi Kaye Campbell brilliantly crafts two parallel love stories dealing with the challenges of repression, liberation and change.
Winner of the Olivier Award, the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, and the John Whiting Award for Best New Play “Somewhere inside of me there’s a kind of betrayal. There’s an expected behaviour. People telling you who you are. And then, of course, you become that very person.” The 1958 Philip, Oliver and Silvia are bound by the social conventions of repressive pre- sexual revolution London, a time when gay sex was a crime and many gay men lived in denial. The 2008 Philip, Oliver and Sylvia have to contend with the modern trend of casual sex and empty encounters, permanent relationships having been exchanged for sexual freedom. Both eras encourage self-deception but what moves us in this play is watching these characters push towards honesty and self-knowledge. We learn that liberation and change within a society starts with the individual and it is the individual who gives the most potential for hope.
