Company name: Gay Sweatshop Theatre Company
Founders: Roger Baker, Lawrence Collinson, Alan Wakeman, Drew Griffiths, Gordon MacDonald, Gerald Chapman, John Roman Baker.
Established: 1974
Purpose: ‘To make heterosexuals aware of the oppression they exercise or tolerate, and expose and end media misrepresentations of homosexuals.’
Current Status: Disbanded by the Board in 1997
Area of Work: Gay and Lesbian, New Writing
Policy: ‘To counteract the prevailing perception in mainstream theatre of what homosexuals were like, therefore providing a more realistic image for the public and to increase the general awareness of the oppression of sexuality, both gay and straight, the impact it has on people’s lives and the society that reinforces it.’ (1975 Manifesto)
Structure: The company was as a collective from 1974 to 1978 when it became a company limited by guarantee run by Artistic Directors. The Artistic Directorship of the company was shared between a voluntary panel of six. All other staff were employed for single productions, e.g. Designers, actors & production staff. From 1991 until its closure the company was led by two Artistic Directors.
Funding: Originally financially self-supported, relying on the voluntary work of it’s members and project funding. In 1976/77 they received funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation. From 1977 to 1981 they received project/touring funding from the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Regional Arts Associations. In 1981 the company was forced to close due to the suspension of funding. In 1984 the Arts Council of Great Britain granted them a touring subsidy. In 1985 they received an annual grant from the Greater London Arts Association (GLAA) which enabled them to maintain an office and two paid staff. There was further funding from the Greater London Council for the Gay Times Arts Festivals in 1985 and 1987. At the same time Noel Greig was successful in getting charity status for the company which meant that it could develop a fundraising scheme (POSH – Pals of Sweatshop). In 1989, led by David Benedict, the company applied to the Arts Council for annual funding and a Board was subsequently recruited and two permanent Artistic Directors (James Neale Kennerley and Lois Weaver).
Based: The company office was originally run from Drew Griffiths’ front room in Marius Road, Balham. They moved to an office above London Friend in Upper Street, Islington. From 1984-88 they operated from Noel Greig’s house in West Hampstead and moved into permanent office space in 1989.
Performance Venues: The ICA, The Drill Hall, Theatre and Arts Centres. Working men’s clubs, Theatre Festivals, Women’s Festivals, Gay Rallies. The company toured nationally to middle and small-scale venues, and internationally to Holland Germany and Belgium and around Europe.
Audiences: Gay Sweatshop’s sell-out founding season at Inter-Action’s Almost-Free Theatre in February 1975 had full houses of mainstream lunch-hour theatre-goers provided by members of the Ambiance Lunch-hour Theatre Club. This inaugural season was so successful that several of the plays transferred to other theatres – including Thinking Straight by Lawrence Collinson and Ships by Alan Wakeman. This first season finally ended in June when Inter-Action needed their theatre back. As Gay Sweatshop was entirely created by volunteers it had no money but managed to subsist somehow as a touring company with a political agenda and smaller mainly gay and lesbian audiences until Arts Council funding was obtained in 1977.
Company work and process:
In 1973 Inter-Action staged a Women’s Season of plays at the Almost Free Theatre. In 1974 Inter-Action advertised for gay writers to submit plays with a view to starting a gay company and in 1975 Gay Sweatshop was formed, staging the season Homosexual Acts. Following the company’s initial success, more plays were commissioned and they were invited to perform a lunchtime season at the ICA. In 1976 Gay Sweatshop wanted to involve equal numbers of men and women in the company, and as a step towards that, they invited Mary Moore, Kate Crutchley and Jill Posener to join the company with Any Woman Can (see Mary Moore’s video extract). The company embarked on a tour in 1976 of Any Woman Can and the company’s first devised play Mister X, including to Ireland where they encountered controversy at the Project Arts Centre. In 1977 they were awarded funding by the Arts Council. That same year the company split into men’s and women’s companies.
In 1977 Noel Greig joined the company and co-scripted the show As Time Goes By, which was a major success. Philip Osment joined the company the same year as a performer. In the same year, some of the women in the company were centrally involved in setting up the Women’s Festival (see Julie Parker’s quote and Kate Crutchley’s audio extract) at the Drill Hall (then Action Space), leading to the company’s close association with the Drill Hall. Following the success of the Women’s Festival the men in the company were invited by the Drill Hall to stage a gay, male festival, the Gay Times Festival. In 1978, Gay News magazine published a number of statements from Gay Sweatshop members titled, Why I’m in Gay Sweatshop. In 1979 the men’s company produced Dear Love of Comrades and Iceberg was devised as a mixed company. On the Dear Love of Comrades tour the company was victim of a queer-bashing attack. The company continued to produce shows until 1981 when it closed for two years due to lack of funding in a climate of funding cuts and political oppression under Margaret Thatcher. It was revived in 1983 to produce Noel Greig’s Poppies.
In 1984 Drew Griffiths was murdered. In 1985 and 1987 Gay Sweatshop hosted two gay New Writing festivals Gay Sweatshop Times Ten Festival and Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve Festival. In 1987 Gerald Chapman actor and playwright died of an AIDS related disease (see Noel Greig’s video extract). After his death, the Gerald Chapman Trainee Director Award was set up at the Royal Court Theatre. The same year Noel Greig resigned but still remained close to the company, in 1989 writing Paradise Now and Then with music by Richard Coles. In 1988 the company was instrumental in setting up the Arts Lobby to oppose Section 28. This was also the year of the first Gay Sweatshop play by a Black writer: Twice Over by Jackie Kay. The company worked as a collective throughout much of its existence but in 1991 the Arts Council insisted that they employ a male and a female Artistic Director: Lois Weaver and James Neale-Kennerly. The company closed in 1997 due to lack of funding.
Personal appraisals and thoughts:
Roger Baker: ‘Why a gay theatre group? This is a question that has been asked many times since the existence of Gay Sweatshop became known. The idea that homosexuals might identify themselves and concentrate energy in one particular area is still greeted with bewilderment, apprehension and, sometimes, scorn. The very reality of such reactions is, in fact, an answer to the question.’
Nancy Diuguid: ‘We hope to make an artistic contribution to the theatrical scene; if we can attract people to us, professional theatre people and others, who are not ashamed of being gay, then we shall have made a political contribution also.’
Philip Osment: ‘In many ways the five members of the company were like ambassadors for the Gay movement and it was crucial that they were themselves gay. Through travelling around the country with the play [Mister X], holding discussion and providing Gay News and gay publications on the book stall, the company became part of the of a network of media and were forging links with people all over the country. Sometimes the performances provided the first impetus for the setting up of a local gay group because it brought people together, or it helped local groups to gain new members and consolidate their activities. Often campaigns against the company would backfire, as happened in Golder’s Green, and people who might otherwise have sat on the fence would be politicised by seeing intolerance and prejudice masquerading as morality and decency.’ (Four Plays and a Company)
See Kate Crutchley‘s video quote on Care and Control.
See Julie Parker‘s audio quote on touring with Gay Sweatshop.
See Richard Sandells’s tribute to fundraiser Ags Irwin and their work together.
Kate Owen: ‘I joined the new G.S.Management Committee after Poppies in 1984. It was both an honour and a poisoned chalice! At first it was just three chaps and myself, and then Tierl Thompson joined. It was such a difficult time for gay people in the UK because there had been the beginning of a ‘Liberation’ for some of us, which was followed by ‘The Gay Plague’ and Clause 28. Gay Sweatshop was mentioned in the debate in the House of Commons [Clause 28], Neil Kinnock‘s office wanted him photographed on our This Island’s Mine set, and Ian McKellen wanted to be in the show. By the time that I left in 1990 we had produced an enormous amount of work, which had toured all over This Island. Was it ‘the best time of our lives’?
And today in 2014, Gay Marriage became legal in the UK for the first time.’
Simon Callow: ‘Passing By was my first experience of political theatre. Though in essence a very sweet account of a passing love affair between two young men, it was utterly radical in offering no apology or explanation for the affair – it was just an affair, like any other. The effect on the predominantly gay audience was sensational – they wept, not because it was sad, but because it was the first time they’d seen their own lives represented on stage without inverted commas, with neither remorse nor disgust. Mart Crowley’s Boys’ in the Band – ‘Show me a happy homosexual and I’ll show you a gay corpse’ – had been packing them in, gay and straight, in the West End only a couple of years before: the acceptable face of homosexuality – brittle anguished, self-loathing. Passing By was the antidote to this seductive but poisonous brew. I was shaken by the effect the play had on the audience…. It provoked in it’s audience a huge collective sigh, as if sloughing off a centuries- old interdict. The defensive, the reflective, the self-protective mask was shed, and shy, tender, loving emotion flowed gently round the tiny auditorium. The slight play had the power, like a great popular song, of speaking directly not only to, but for, its auditors.’
Reviews:
Ships
‘...a clever, humorous, shrewdly observed almost-sexual encounter’ (The Guardian 1975)
Thinking Straight
‘…a buoyant funny piece of Gay agitprop… it communicated itself immediately to the audience and went like a bomb (in the English sense).’ (Time Out 1975)
Mister X
‘Mister X’ has already been controversial and performances have been heckled by outraged vicars, but clearly sexational journalism can no longer halt them in their tracks.’ (Time Out 1976)
Any Woman Can
‘The significance of the play was that it went beyond the individual level arguing that homosexual relationships are as valid as heterosexual ones and problematical only in terms of society’s prevailing values! The evening brought together theatre and audience in a dynamic interaction, to consider a significant social question, linking sexual oppression with the wider oppression of women in our society.’ (The Morning Star 1976)
Read more reviews here
Productions:
| PRODUCTION NAME | VENUES | DATES |
|---|---|---|
| Limitations Writer: John Roman Baker Director: Drew Griffiths Designer: Norman Coates Cast: Maggie Ford, William Hoyland, Jeremy Arnold | The Almost Free Theatre (Part of Homosexual Acts season) | 1975 |
| Thinking Straight Writer: Laurence Collinson Director: Drew Griffiths Designer: Norman Coates Cast: Anthony Sher, Peter Small, Linda Beckett | The Almost Free Theatre (Part of Homosexual Acts season). Also at the Act Inn, London and Mickery Theatre, Amsterdam | 1975 |
| Ships Writer: Alan Wakeman Director: Gerald Chapman Designer: Norman Coates Cast: Iain Armstrong, Elaine Ives-Cameron, Jim Duggan, Barry Parman, Anthony Smee, Andrew Tourell, Timothy Welsh | The Almost Free Theatre (Part of Homosexual Acts season) and Mickery Theatre, Amsterdam | 1975 |
| Fred and Harold Writer: Robert Patrick Director: Stewart Trotter Cast: Barry McCarthy, Peter Whitman | The Almost Free Theatre (Part of Homosexual Acts season) | 1975 |
| One Person Writer: Robert Patrick Director: Stewart Trotter Cast: Michael Deacon | The Almost Free Theatre (Part of Homosexual Acts season) | 1975 |
| Passing By Writer: Martin Sherman Director: Drew Griffiths Cast: Simon Callow, Michael Dickinson | The Almost Free Theatre (Part of Homosexual Acts season) | 1975 |
| The Haunted Host Writer: Robert Patrick Director: John Chapman Designer: Norman Coates Cast: Joseph Pichette, Ned Van Zandt | The Almost Free Theatre (Part of Homosexual Acts season) | 1975 |
| Mister X Writer: Roger Baker and Drew Griffiths Cast: Drew Griffiths, Alan Pope, Phillip Howells, Gordan McDonald | CHE Conference Sheffield, ICA, national and international tour. | 1975 |
| Any Woman Can Writer: Jill Posener Director: Kate Crutchley Designer: Mary Moore Cast: Brenda Addie, Helen Barnaby, Donna Champion, Kate Crutchley, Nancy Diuguid, Patricia Donovan, Vanessa Forsyth, Sandra Freeman, Patricia Garwood, Sara Hardy, Elizabeth Lindsay, Penelope Nice, Julie Parker | The Haymarket, Leicester, ICA, The Kings Head, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a tour of England and Ireland. | 1976 |
| Randy Robinson's Unsuitable Relationship Writer: Andrew Davies Director: Kate Crutchley Design: Mary Moore Cast: James Marcus, Sandra Freeman, Martin Friend, Andrew Branch, Georgina Melville | ICA | 1976 |
| The Fork Writer: Ian Brown Director: Gerald Chapman Designer: Mary Moore Cast: Linda Beckett, Jeffrey Chiswick, Jim Hooper, Anthony Sher | ICA | 1976 |
| Stone Writer: Edward Bond Director: Gerald Chapman Designer: Mary Moore Cast: Kevin Elyott, Tony Douse, Anthony Sher, Anna Nygh Musicians: Robert Campbell, Tom Robinson | ICA | 1976 |
| Indiscreet Writer: Roger Baker and Drew Griffiths Director: Drew Griffiths Cast: Alan Pope, Philip Howells, Gordon MacDonald, Drew Griffiths | CHE Conference Southampton, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and a tour of England, Ireland and Holland. | 1976 |
| Jingleball Devised by: Gerald Chapman and Kate Crutchley Music: Tom Robinson and Alex Harding Director: Michael Richmond Cast: Kate Crutchley, Bob Stratton, Julie Parker, Nancy Diuguid, Gordon MacDonald, Drew Griffiths, Helen Barnaby, Sara Hardy | ICA and Roundhouse Downstairs | 1976 |
| Age of Consent Devised by the company with Drew Griffiths Director: Kate Crutchley Designer: Mary Moore Cast: Bob Stratton, Sara Hardy, Tony Brooks, Helen Barnaby, Keiran Montague, Ian Godfrey, Gordon MacDonald Vocals: Tom Robinson | Presented at the Royal Court Theatre as part of a season of plays for schools entitled Everyone Different and short tour. | 1976 |
| As Time Goes By Writer: Noel Greig and Drew Griffiths Music: Alex Harding Director: Noel Greig Designer: Paul Hart Cast: Gordon MacDonald, Alan Pope, Philip Timmins, Philip Osment, Bruce Bayley, Drew Griffiths Stage Manager: Peter Charles | CHE Conference Nottingham, Edinburgh Festival and tour (national and international) | 1977 |
| Care and Control Researched and devised by the company Scripted: Michelene Wandor Director: Kate Crutchley Music: Terri Quaye Design: Mary Moore Cast 1: Kate Phelps, Michael Kellan, Natasha Fairbanks, Helen Barnaby, Kate Crutchley, Nancy Diuguid, Michael Kellan Cast 2: Libby Mason, Martin Panter, Sara Hardy, Marilyn Milgrom, Jill Posener, Patricia Donovan Photography: Jill Posener Poster design: Isobel Irvine | Oval House and tours 1 and 2 | 1977 |
| The Life, Works and Loves of Lytton Strachey Writer: Noel Greig and Drew Griffiths The Sixties Writer: Paul Dart As Time Goes By Writer: David Thompson (Rehearsed readings) | Gay Times Festival at Action Space Drill Hall organised by Gay Sweatshop men including cabarets: Urania Thirties cabaret, Manmad workshops, discussions, performances by guest companies and screenings | 1978 |
| As Time Goes By Writers: Noel Greig and Drew Griffiths Music: Alex Harding Director: Noel Greig Designer: Paul Hart Cast: Gordon MacDonald, Alan Pope, Philip Timmins, Philip Osment, Martin Panter, Drew Griffiths, Noel Greig Stage Manager: Peter Charles | Tour of UK and Ireland including Project Arts Centre Dublin, Holland tour including Mickery Theatre, Amsterdam. | 1978 |
| Warm Thirties cabaret devised by the men in the company Cast: Bruce Bayley, Noel Greig, Drew Griffiths, Gordon MacDonald, Philip Osment, Philip Timmins | Oval House | 1978 |
| What the hell is she doing here? Devised by the women in the company Director: Angela Langfield Cast: Ella Wilder, Sara Hardy, Francia White, Eileen Dixon, Kate Jason-Smith | Oval House and tour | 1978 |
| Iceberg Devised by the company Cast: Noel Greig, Sandra Leicester, Stephanie Pugsley, Angela Stewart Park, Phillip Timmins | Oval House and tour including Belfast Queens University and Germany (where Noel Greig's part was played by Philip Osment) | 1978 |
| Jingleball Devised by the company Cast: Drew Griffiths, Gordon MacDonald, Jill Posener, Kate Crutchley, Bob Stratton, Eiizabeth Lindsay, Sandra Leicester, Stephanie Pugsely Musicians: Alex Harding, Angela Stewart Park | Oval House London for Gay Pride and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival | 1978 |
| Dear Love of Comrades Writer: Noel Greig Music: Alex Harding Director: Nancy Diuguid Designer: Paul Dart Cast: Ray Batchelor, Peter Glancy, Noel Greig, Stephen Hatton, Philip Timmins Accompanist: Alex Harding | Oval House and tour and Munich Theatre Festival | 1979 |
| I Like Me Like This Writers: Sharon Nassaaur and Angela Stewart Park Director: Helen Barnaby Musical Director: Sharon Nassauer Designer: Kate Owen Cast: Dee Welding, Trudy Howson, Anne Wilkins, Ros Davis, Vicky Ryder Piano: Sharon Nasssauer Drums: Angela Stewart Park | Edinburgh Festival and tour | 1979 |
| Who Knows? Writers: Philip Timmins, Sarah Hardy and Bruce Bayley Director: Philip Timmins Designer: Paul Dart Cast: Kenny Irvine, Michelle Golaz, Peter Hall, Gary James, Chris Lada, Kate Oliver, Christine Richmond, Jayne Roberts, Lizzie Windsor | Royal Court and tour | 1979-80 |
| Blood Green Writer: Noel Greig and Angela Stewart Park Director: Noel Greig Design: Kate Owen Cast: Caroline Needs, Elaine Loudon, Philip Timmins, Stephanie Pugsley, Gordon MacDonald Set, Costume, Lighting Stage Manager: Pete Charles Music composition & Recording: Jo- Anne Fraser Poster Design: Janet De Wagt Map: Angela Stewart Park Production Photographs: Jane Harper Set Construction: Metheralls Metal Engineers Electronic Props: Philip Timmins | Tour including performances in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Coleraine | 1980 |
| Poppies Staged Reading Writer: Noel Grieg Director: Noel Grieg Cast: Jonathan Blake, Robert Hale, Alan Hooker, Philip Osment, Ralph Smith, Philip Timmins, Robin Whitmore | Gay CND Weekend Conference, London | 1983 |
| Poppies Writer: Noel Greig Director: Noel Greig Designer: Kate Owen Cast: Robin Samson, Philip Timmins, Philip Osment, Ralph Smith, Simon Deacon, Robert Hale, Dave Tomalin Stage Manager: Pete Charles Set construction: Dave White Poster design, company photographs: Pete Freer Hairstyles: Jo Moise Administration: Martin Humphrey | Oval House, Albany Empire, Tricycle Theatre and tour to Arts Centres, Schools, Colleges, Trade Clubs and Community Centres around the UK | 1983 - 84 |
| Poppies Writer: Noel Greig Director: Philip Osment Designer: Kate Owen Cast: Peter Shorey, Gordon MacDonald, David Newlyn, Richard Sandells, Stephen Ley, David Benedict, John Wilson | 2nd tour: Drill Hall and tour | 1985 |
| Telling Tales Writer: Philip Osment Designer: Rick Fisher Cast: Philip Osment | Inaugural production in the theatre at the London Lesbian and Gay Centre (originally performed 1982) | 1985 |
| Raising the Wreck Writer: Sue Frumin Director: Paddi Taylor Design: Kate Owen Cast: Bernadine Evaristo, Hazel Maycock, Sara Ridd, Denise Thompson, Marjolein de Vries | Drill Hall, Pegasus Theatre, Oxford and tour | 1985-86 |
| Compromised Immunity Writer: Andy Kirby Director: Philip Osment | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Julie Writer: Catherine Kilcoyne Director: Maggie Ford | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| More Writer: Maro Green and Caroline Griffin Director: Kate Owen Cast: Cordelia Ditton | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Chiaroscuro Writer: Jackie Kay Director: Joan Ann Maynard (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| England Arise Writer: Carl Miller Director: David Benedict (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Ties Writer: Tasha Fairbanks Director: Philip Osment (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Boy Writer: Greyum Pyper (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Meet My Mother Writer: Michelene Wandor Guest appearance Miriam Margolyes (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Life Lines Writer: Nicolle Freni Director: Libby Mason (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Aliens and Alienists Writer: Rho Pegg Director: Cordelia Ditton (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Dreams Recaptured Writer: Martin Humphries Director: Noel Grieg (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Hitting Home Writer: Diane Biondo Director: Paddi Taylor (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Pinball Writer: Alison Lyssa Director: Nona Shepphard (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Angel of Vision Writer: Deborah Rogin Director: Philip Osment (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Education: Part One Writer: Ibo Director: Paulette Randall (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| A Quiet End Writer: Robin Swados Director: Noel Grieg (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| Skin Deep Writer: Nigel Pugh Director: Nigel Townsend | Gay Sweatshop Times Ten, The Drill Hall | 1985 |
| More Writer: Maro Green and Caroline Griffin Director: Kate Owen Cast: Cordelia Ditton | The Drill Hall and London tour | 1986 |
| Compromised Immunity Writer: Andy Kirby Director: Philip Osment Designer: Tony Reeves Lighting: Matt Shadda Costume: Caroline Burgess Cast: Richard Sandells, Madeleine Blakeney, Pip Stephenson, Peter Shorey, David Benedict, Alan Hooker, Duncan Alexander | Albany Empire and Drill Hall | 1986 |
| This Island's Mine Writer: Philip Osment Director: Philip Osment | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| The Gleaners Writer: Maria Aristarco Director: Maggie Ford (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| Where to Now? Writer: Martin Patrick Director: Cordelia Ditton (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| Seven Seas Writer & Director: Adele Saleem (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| The Legend of Bim and Bam Directors: Kate Owen and Richard Sandells (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| A Crossed Line Writer: Christopher Eymard Director: David Benedict (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| Canada Flash Writer: Paul Doust Director: Philip Osment (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| Raw Hide Performance piece created by Emlyn Claid (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| Twice Over Writer: Jackie Kay Director: Sally Aprahamian (Rehearsed reading) | Gay Sweatshop Times Twelve, The Drill Hall | 1987 |
| This Island's Mine Writer: Philip Osment Music and Lyrics: Sharon Nassauer Director: Philip Osment Musical Director: Sharon Nassauer Designer: Kate Owen Lighting: Matt Shadda Cast: William Elliott, Trevor Furguson, Diane Hall, Suzy King, Margaret Robinson, Richard Sandells, Dougray Scott Director: Philip Osment | Drill Hall and tour (Scottish tour Diane Hall's role played by Irma Inniss) | 1988 |
| Twice Over Writer: Jackie Kay Director: Nona Shepphard Designer: Kate Owen Cast: Adjoa Andoh, Pamela Lane, Thelma Lawson, Amanda Martin, Mary Ellen Ray, Cleo Sylvestor | Drill Hall and tour | 1988 |
| Paradise Now and Then Writer: Noel Greig Music: Richard Coles Director: Paul Heritage Musical Director: Simon Deacon Assistant Musical Director: Jessica Higgs Designer: Kate Owen Cast included: Stephen Ley, Richard Sandells, Peter Shorey, | Drill Hall and tour | 1989 |
| Kitchen Matters Writer: Bryony Lavery Director: Nona Shepphard Cast: Stacey Charlesworth, Marie Esposito, Cordelia Ditton, Peta Masters, Michael Matus | 1990 | |
| The Last Enemy Writer: Carl Miller Director: David Benedict Designer: Anthony Baker Cast: Simon Casson, Debbie James, Kieran McCrystal, Sunny Ormonde, William Osborne, Caron Pascoe | Drill Hall | 1991 |
| Threesome: Drag Act Writer: Clare Dowie Jack Writer: David Green Span Entering Queens Writer Phyllis Nagy | Drill Hall | 1992 |
| Stupid Cupid Writers: John Binnie and Phil Wilmott | 1992 | |
| In Your Face Company devised with writer Jan Maloney | 1994 | |
| Lust and Comfort Company devised with Lois Weaver | 1994 | |
| The Hand Writer: Stella Duffy | 1994-95 |
Interviewee reference: Kate Crutchley, Noel Greig, Bryony Lavery, Mary Moore, Julie Parker, Michelene Wandor, Philip Osment, Kate Owen.
Existing archive material: Archive material held in the Royal Holloway University archives and can be found at the Noel Greig archive, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance.
Bibliography:
Eros and Civilisation by Herbert Marcuse (Sphere Books Ltd, GB 1969)
With Downcast Gays: Aspects of Homosexual Self-Oppression by Andrew Hodges and David Hutte (Pomegranate Press, London 1974)
Homosexual Acts. A Volume of Gay Plays. Ambiance/ Almost Free Playscripts 1. Edited By Ed Berman (Inter-Action Inprint, London.)
Strike While the Iron is Hot by Michelene Wandor (Journeyman Press, London 1980)
Carry On Understudies; Theatre and Sexual Politics by Michelene Wandor (Eyre Methuen, London 1981)
Gay Sweatshop Four plays and a company by Philip Osment (Methuen Drama, London 1989)
Not in Front of the Audience: Homosexuality of Stage by Nicholas de Jongh (Routledge, London 1992)
Contemporary Feminist Theatres: To Each Her Own by Lizbeth Goodman (Routledge, Oxon 1993)
Shakespeare’s Queer Children. Sexual Politics and Contemporary Culture by Kate Chedgzoy (Manchester University Press, Manchester 1995)
My Life in Pieces by Simon Callow (Nick Hern Books Limited, London 2010)
Acknowledgements: This webpage was assembled with the generous help of the members of Gay Sweatshop – Kate Crutchley, Noel Greig, Bryony Lavery, Julie Parker and especially, Philip Osment. We are enormously grateful to them for contributing their personal collections of images, scripts and assorted ephemera, as well as their reflections and time. This page has been written and constructed by Ray Malone. November 2013
This creation of this page was supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund