Unfinished Histories

RADICAL REDISCOVERY II: HOMOSEXUAL ACTS AND BEYOND - EXHIBITION
2025-11-06 18:00 - 2025-12-14 17:00 (Europe/London) | London Performance Studios
RADICAL REDISCOVERY II: HOMOSEXUAL ACTS AND BEYOND
An ambitious new archival exhibition, celebrating fifty years of LGBTQ+ alternative theatre in the UK.
THURSDAY 6th NOV – SUN 14th DEC
Open Fridays to Sunday 12- 5
London Performance Studios
Penarth Street
London SE15 1TR
The programme marks 50 years since Homosexual Acts, the first Gay Theatre Season in Britain that took place at the Almost Free Theatre in 1975. It shares an array of materials from the Unfinished Histories archive alongside other sources, and is curated by its director and co-founder Dr. Susan Croft.
The exhibition charts the growth of the movement in London and elsewhere, from street theatre created by activists in the Gay Liberation Front to touring Gay Sweatshop plays that changed the lives of audiences in isolated communities, and from the radical drag work of Bloolips and the lesbian camp of Hard Corps and Parker and Klein, to the advent of Black lesbian, gay and queer work in the late 80s.

RADICAL REDISCOVERY II: WHERE TO NOW by MARTIN PATRICK - A STAGED READING
2025-11-13 19:30 - 2025-11-14 19:30 | London Performance Studios
RADICAL REDISCOVERY II: HOMOSEXUAL ACTS and BEYOND presents
WHERE TO NOW by MARTIN PATRICK

THURS 13th NOV & FRI 14th NOV at 7.30pm
London Performance Studios
Penarth Street
London SE15 1TR
TICKETS HERE
This staged reading explores the conflict of a young black university lecturer forced into confronting his identity in the context of the Brixton riots of 1981. Leaving his white lover of ten years and thereby his own submergence in white culture, he hopes to find fulfilment with a vibrant young black lover. ‘Brave and innovative’ (City Limits) it was among the first plays to bring black British gay male experience to the stage, originally performed at Oval House Theatre.
Directed by Lesley Ewen
Cast
Cyril Nri (Lord Danbury in Bridgerton)
Marcus Amaglo
Dickie Beau
Harry Omosele
Rebecca Scroggs

RADICAL ROOTS - Rediscovering Our Lost LGBTQ+ Theatre Histories
2026-02-01 19:30 - 21:30 | Hackney Showroom, 4 Murrain Road, London, Hackney, N4 2BN, United Kingdom
Out of the archives and into Hackney Showroom, Unfinished Histories is thrilled to present a night of rehearsed playreadings by playwrights from Hackney.
Directed by Lesley Ewen, it features extracts from:

‘Where To Now’ (1987) by Martin Patrick: The play explores the conflict of a young Black university lecturer forced into confronting his identity in the context of the Brixton uprising of 1981. If you missed the triumphant shows at London Performance Studios in November, this is your chance to see it again!
‘John’ (1984) by Adele Salem: An epic, camp ride through the real life relationship between author John (Radclyffe Hall, ‘The Well of Loneliness’) and Lady Una Troubridge. History and fabrication combine in this joyful, heartrending exposé of the lives of the hottest lesbian couple of 1920s England (and their dogs).

TICKETS HERE!

Unrehearsed playreading - Teatrolley by Peter Scott-Presland
2026-02-25 18:00 - 20:00 | Canada Water Theatre, Canada Water Library, 21 Surrey Quays Rd, London SE16 7AR, London, SE16 7AR, United Kingdom
Unfinished Histories and Southwark Libraries invite you to join us for a FREE in-person evening as part of LGBTQ history month : Teatrolley (or A Midsummer Night’s Scream) by Peter Scott-Presland, an LGBTQ+ Unrehearsed Playreading .

Be part of a reading of Teatrolley, a captivating, funny play first performed on Hampstead Heath in 1981 by Consenting Adults in Public.Based on an actual 1970s event where members of the GLF decided to go to Hampstead Heath to confront the cruisers with the shallowness of their lifestyles, raise their political consciousness and convince them to come out – and went equipped with a teatrolley to offer refreshment! Consenting Adults in Public’s signature play revisits these events while reworking A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
When you arrive you will find copies of the scripts. We then dive in, and some people volunteer to read parts, others are the audience.
The evening will be introduced by Unfinished Histories Director Dr Susan Croft, and writer of the play and Artistic Director of Homo Promos, Peter Scott-Presland.
Supported by the Southwark LGBTQ+ Staff Network, Southwark Libraries and Theatre Peckham as part of LGBT History Month.
