Reflections by Bette Bourne on his remarkable life, as a Gay Liberation Front activist and radical drag communard in the early 1970s, and as founder of the pioneering gay theatre troupe, Bloolips.
A new play written and performed by
Bette Bourne & Mark Ravenhill
Winner of a Fringe First and the only Herald Archangel Award at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.
4 Stars: Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Scotsman, Sunday Times
Soho Theatre London 21 – 27 September 2009
With special guest Fenella Fielding on 24th & 25th September
If I die tomorrow, the only regret I would have would be leaving my beautiful lover. Apart from that, death is really nothing, provided you’ve had a happy life. That’s a great consolation!’ Bette. Time Out 2008
With honesty, humour and occasional anger, performer Bette Bourne tells the playwright Mark Ravenhill about his remarkable life in edited transcripts of a series of long, private conversations; a recreation on stage of two friends reminiscing about one of their lives.
It’s a London story that moves from a post-war East End childhood through a hedonistic ’60′s Soho, to Gay Lib and life in a 1970′s Notting Hill drag commune. In the ’80′s Bette formed the outrageous avante garde ‘Bloolips’, and is now firmly established as an award winning actor and one of Britain’s Stately Homos. A Life in Three Acts is a portrait of an amazing individual and a celebration of the momentous struggles and achievements of the gay movement.
The piece takes place in three parts, each part reliving a different series of events in Bette’s life. The parts can be enjoyed singly in any order, as self contained stories of a period in time, or seen all together for the complete picture of a rich life.
Listings Information: London
Venue: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Dates: 21 – 27 September
ACT 1 21st & 24th September
ACT 2 22nd (Bette Bourne’s Birthday Gala) & 25th September
ACT 3 23rd & 26th September
ACTS 1, 2 & 3 27th September
Times: 9:30pm (7pm on Sunday 27th September)
Tickets: £10-£20. See all three acts and pay for two – subject to availability.
Tickets must be purchased at the same time
Box Office: 0207 478 0100 www.sohotheatre.com
Running time: approximately 60 mins
Sunday 27th September running time: approximately 90 minutes
For further press information: Sharon Kean 020 7354 3574 Mobile: 07973 843133 E: sharon@keanlanyon.com
