Northbound Boy is a new queer comedy starring Neil Ashton (from It’s A Sin), Sarah Moyle (from Doctors), and features Cormac Hyde-Corrin (from Heartstopper) in his stage debut.
They say all roads lead to Rome, but the M64 leads to a ransacked family home and a mouse drowned in Bisto. When 40-year-old Ken picks up a younger man at the service station, he soon realizes that Rory is looking for a different type of ride.
Ahead of the show’s opening at the King’s Head Theatre on 13 August, Neil Ashton tells us about growing up in the Lake District, his career and general good fortune, culminating in his return to the stage with Northbound Boy.
What can you tell us about Northbound Boy and your role of Ken?
Northbound Boy is a queer story about the relationships we have as a gay man with both family and sexual partners. What I love about the play is that Ken’s experiences of being a gay man aren’t as straightforward and ‘easy’ as a lot of other gay plays portray. Ken has had a lot of difficulty coming to terms with his sexuality and has had to conform to a ‘straight’ existence for most of his life with his family and work colleagues. But after a startling incident at work, therapy sessions, and then a chance meeting at a service station, he begins to question his life and the very real possibility of living openly as a gay man.
Why do you think queer representation is important both on screen and on stage?
I was born in the Lake District in the 1960s, and growing up, I truly believed I was ‘ he only gay in the village’. There was no representation of gay people anywhere…books, TV, cinema. The only people who were visible were camp comics and TV presenters like Larry Grayson or John Inman in ‘Are You Being Served’, and they were ridiculed by the people I lived around. And then, with the advent of Aids, being gay was not only ‘abnormal’ but a death sentence as well. I know that if I had grown up with such positive representation of gay characters like in ‘Heartstopper’ or RuPaul’s Drag Race I would have had such an easier time in coming out and feeling accepted. The more we can have representations of queerness on our stages and screens, the better!
You were part of Cucumber, It’s a Sin, and are about to shoot another season of Brassic. What was it like to be part of such powerful and successful TV Shows?
Honestly, I will be forever blessed to be a part of such extraordinary shows. I know it sounds very corny, but after so many years of auditioning and rejections, to then land incredible roles in these productions, I just can’t believe how lucky I am. I am so proud of these shows, and to know that they mean so much to so many people and the effects they can have means the absolute world to me. That is why I am an actor, to tell a good story in the hope that it means something very special to someone somewhere.
You haven’t done theatre for a while – why did it appeal, what drew you back?
It’s been nearly 10 years since I’ve done any theatre! And between you and me, I am so nervous about being back on stage in front of a live audience, but also incredibly excited as well to tell the story of’ Northbound Boy’ with such a phenomenal cast and creative team. Cormac and Sarah are utterly amazing and I am having a wonderful time working with them. Theatre is so different from working on camera, am learning so much every day. I fell in love with the dream of being an actor when I was about 8 years old. I used to write little plays which then me and a ground of friends would perform in old people’s homes and then I joined a local youth theatre group. So performing now on stage at The Kings Head Theatre feels like I’ve come full circle and I am loving every second of it.
Why should audiences book to see Northbound Boy? What do you hope they’ll take away with them?
You should definitely book a ticket to come and see Northbound Boy if you’re a sucker for a good love story and if you’re a fan of shows like ‘Jerry Springer’ and like to see family members go at it hammer and tongs! I love that the play addresses an ag- gap relationship between and older man and a younger man and ‘family feuds’. When friends ask me what the play is about, I say ‘Sex, Drugs and Antiques’… there’s something for everyone!
Northbound Boy runs from 13 August to 1 September 2024 at King’s Head Theatre, 116 Upper Street, London N1 1QP, United Kingdom.
