Things A Bright Young Queer Can Do at the Chichester Fringe

Things A Bright Young Queer Can Do will enjoy two performances in The Old Court Room, The Council House, 80 North Street, Chichester, PO19 1LQ on Saturday, June 7 (14:30 & 16:00).

His point is that while queerhood is far harder than anyone ever gives you credit for, it is all about lives lived, challenges overcome, success and dreams, all wrapped up in hopes of a better future.

Rhys (A Deceit of Dying Flowers (2024), Tea with Marjorie (2023)) offers the show as a challenge to the narrative around young LGBTQ+ folk – and a poignant reflection on the realities of queerhood and shared collective experiences. It is also his master’s project.

“I think the original idea was that growing up queer and meeting lots of other queer people I just found that representations of queerhood in the media were limited; the queer people were either hypersexual or very depressed. I think it's just that that makes a good story, good box office especially in film and TV where the things that really interest people are sex and depression! But I just wanted to give more of a real representation. I watched a programme called Heartstopper and it was just lovely. It was a show about young queer people without it being only about their queerhood. It was following a group of friends and their lives together. It was joyful and it was messy, and there were some storylines which were heart-pulling but it was always portrayed in ways that were sensitive and I thought wouldn't it be good if there was something like that in theatre, a similar space that gave young queer people a sense of agency and empowerment and allowed their voices to be heard.

“I knew I wanted to do something that was contemporary. But watching the world you can see that it has become a lot more dogmatic and a lot more divided, not just for queer people but for everyone really. I just knew that I wanted to make something that was about bringing people together and showing how positive things can be. I wanted it to be about hope and joy and love and life.

“So I drove around the country and I spoke to people. I called up people that I knew from secondary school and college and university and I got in contact with friends of friends and I spoke to some people that I would never have met and interviewed them. And I heard some really great stories. I went to places including London and Devon and Cornwall and Wales and also lots of interviews in Chichester. And I was greeted with such hospitality. I stayed on people's sofas and they gave me tea and cake and I was invited into people's homes and I got to see the real variety of queer people living their lives. And it was really lovely to hear people talk about how their lives have been.

“I didn't want to do it as a verbatim show because I think that can be ethically dodgy though there are some people that can do it really well. What I did was I identified different themes. I recorded the interviews and I listened back to them and picked out different themes and motifs that came out when I fictionalised three or four different interviews together. I knew that I wanted it to be vignettes, very short sharp scenes that flit from one to the other almost like you're going around the country.

“I've got seven actors and the nice thing is that they're all students or graduates from the University of Chichester. The youngest is 20 and the oldest is 27. I wrote and directed it but it was very much a collective process in the rehearsals. It was very much me working with them and them giving me their own ideas and own thoughts just how we could make it all very loud and very enjoyable!”