After the Act - New Diorama

[paplazaroo]

New musical about section 28, a turning point in queer history by Breach theatre who made the excellent ‘it’s true it’s true it’s true’. Should be good!

newdiorama.com/whats-on/after-the-act

NDT birthed operation mincemeat so they’ve got good taste!

[paplazaroo]

Anyone been along to this yet? it's getting pretty great reviews so wouldn't be surprised if it transfers

[fiyerorocher]

I saw an early preview. I thought it was interesting but it falls into the rare (for me) category of I enjoyed it, but I have no desire to go back and see it again. Definitely well performed but the sound quality was poor (although hopefully this might have been sorted out over previews) so it was hard to hear a lot of what was sung. It also started an hour late because of technical difficulties when I saw it, so I probably wasn't in the best of moods by the time it actually began!

[n1david]

I saw this tonight and really enjoyed it. It is still very definitely a work in progress, but the sound issues that fiyerorocher had were sorted, I heard everything pretty clearly from the third row.

It's enthusiastic and energetically performed. For those of us who were a certain age in the 80s, some of the stuff is rather triggering, reminding us of some truly horrible politicians and a hostile media that could certainly never happen again (apart from the fact that it has). The key problem for me is that they can't decide whether some of the hostile politicians are a threat or a joke - so while, for example, I understand the portrayal of Margaret Thatcher from a theatrical point of view, I felt the presentation undermined her key role in what happened in the 80s. The 80s weren't fun for a lot of us, and that was the number I felt was most out of place (unlike, for example, the drag act Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, which accurately nails the cruelty as well as the absurdity).

Rest of the run is sold out (it finishes at the weekend) but I'm intrigued to see what happens next to this show.

[zahidf]

This is on at the Edinburgh Fringe at the Traverse theatre for August

[sam22]

Showing my ignorance but until recently the New Diorama has totally passed me by. Now after Operation Mincemeat and For Black Boys I've started following it and thought this sounded good but won't get to it. Hopefully it has a life elsewhere!

[andrew]

This is on tour right now and is actually pretty good. It's very 'verbatim musical' which I'm quite partial to, tells a lot of very relevant, interesting and moving tales from people subject to and involved with Section 28 and zips along quite nicely. Flicking through reviews online it's been described as a bit uneven which I'd agree with, but given that it's still got a slightly Edinburgh Fringe aesthetic (although better than that, with very effective projections and use of the simple school-gym set) I found myself forgiving it's sins and just enjoying the show. Would be worth seeing if it's passing by your area.