REVIEW: Minerva Theatre Chichester - why After The Act is powerful testimony from those bullied for trying to be true to themselves

Technical reasons pushed the start of the show back by 15 minutes.

A typed sheet of paper rather than a glossy programme was handed to reviewers as they entered the auditorium.

It felt a little like attending a protest meeting than a polished performance – which added to the authenticity of the occasion rather than detracted from it.

After The Act reflects not just the grass roots campaign that sprang up in defiance of the notorious Section 28 but the misery of young people in the 1980s unable to discuss or seek help about their sexuality and their gender.

It may have only been 40 years ago, but this was a different world entirely from today.

Homosexuality had only been partly decriminalised some 20 years before in 1967. Prejudice, bullying, family embarrassment and ignorance were rife. All this was set against the backdrop of Aids – a guaranteed death sentence in the 1980s.

This play, set to music, is constructed from interviews with those directly affected and the speeches of politicians and protest leaders of the time.

It is as poignant as it is powerful and the cast of four move dextrously from one role to another with effortless ease.

We hear, in their own words, of the boy who increasingly self-harmed and attempted to end his life because of the endless verbal abuse that was directed at him; and of the girl subjected to torture-like conversion therapy to remove the demons of her sexuality.

The party political messaging – understandable in one sense because of the legislation that inspired the play, is also somewhat self-defeating. The issues of self-discovery, identity and definition are greater than mere politics and cross partisan divides.

The auditorium was far from busy but none the less this was an important insight into both social history and the stories of so many individuals. It was told with rhythm, passion and a sensitivity that gives After The Act a deserved and meritorious place in this winter’s line-up.