FutureQueer runs from 4th February to 2nd March 2024 at the Cabaret House in the brand spanking new King’s Head Theatre in Islington. Alexis Gregory, writer and performer, tells us what was on his mind when he wrote the play.
I wrote my new show ‘FutureQueer’ sat on my doorstep, over the summer of 2023, trying to grab the sun where, and when, I could. I wrote about what was on my mind at the time. I also wrote about the future. I wrote about my (future imagined) world of 2071 when the whole world is queer (yeah, baby).
I wrote about queer migration (now) and American families (now) fleeing Red States to more progressive parts of the country. I wrote about vogueing and lip-syncing becoming categories in the Olympics (my imagined ‘then’). I wrote about (current) fears of drag queens reading story books to kids, and how (in my imagined future) it really did turn the whole population queer….’ they’ were right all the time…..WHO KNEW….and that it was that simple to do so too?. I wrote about how we were (previously) told ‘It get’s better’ but (currently) it doesn’t feel like that for many fractions of the LGBTQ+ community. My imagined ‘then’ also sees the UK’s first Queer Monarch. Can you guess who it might be? No, Camilla doesn’t come out as Lesbian. Someone else. The UK also gets a new National Anthem; a Dannii Minogue megamix. Love a bit of Dannii. And her sister. Obvs.
No, I didn’t get sunstroke on my doorstep to cause this outpouring. I consciously chose to mix ideas and concepts like this. The outrageous, with the unfortunately, hard-hitting sucker punch to the guts. The comic, wild, and OTT, and the painful, thread-bare facts. My show ‘FutureQueer’ is part theatre, stand-up comedy, TED talk, and queer lecture on disco music’s ongoing futurist potential. That, to me, is queer in itself.
The show is it’s own thing, and I hope, unpredictably exists beyond categorisation. Like queerness itself….and of course, the future. Some people who saw the shows try-out’s last year said they’d never seen another show like it before. I’ll take that. Some people who’ve seen lots of my shows said they thought this was my best one yet. That’s not for me to say. I love all my ‘babies’, but again, I’ll take it.
As you have read, from some of the themes explored, even though my show is about queer futures, and I am performing it over History Month, the line that the show follows is not linear. We explore the past, and present for queer people, as together, the audience and I, imagine queer life in 2071.
I’m really exited to be performing in the band new Kings Head Theatre building, just a couple of minutes away from it’s previous Upper Street home. I’m in the new cabaret space (life is a cabaret, don’t cha know). Please come join me on this journey, and trip, into the future. Six performances only spread out over History Month. I promise I will make you laugh, think, and be provoked. Maybe together, you and I will find redemption in the dark, and a way forward. Maybe I’ll even inspire you to take the time, sit on your doorstep in the sun, and think of a new world beyond our own too.
Book tickets to futureQueer: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/futurequeer
FutureQueer runs from 4th February to 2nd March 2024 at the Cabaret House, King’s Head Theatre, 116 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 1QN, United Kingdom.
