A Life in Three Acts, Soho Theatre | reviews, news & interviews
A Life in Three Acts, Soho Theatre
A Life in Three Acts, Soho Theatre
Bette Bourne's unconventional life plus Mark Ravenhill makes for an unusual evening
Tuesday, 09 February 2010
Bette Bourne and Mark Ravenhill: 'An unusual treat, from an East End childhood, through early gay liberation, Aids and the advent of queer theatre'
You may know the actor, drag artist and gay activist Bette Bourne from his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in the theatre, or perhaps his Lady Bracknell for English Touring Theatre (a role he was surely born to play) but outside the gay/theatrical London loop, he is less well known. That’s a shame because this charming and rather unorthodox piece of theatre shows that his life story - from an East End childhood, through early gay liberation, the scourge of Aids and the advent of queer theatre to present-day stately homo status - deserves a broader audience.
You may know the actor, drag artist and gay activist Bette Bourne from his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in the theatre, or perhaps his Lady Bracknell for English Touring Theatre (a role he was surely born to play) but outside the gay/theatrical London loop, he is less well known. That’s a shame because this charming and rather unorthodox piece of theatre shows that his life story - from an East End childhood, through early gay liberation, the scourge of Aids and the advent of queer theatre to present-day stately homo status - deserves a broader audience.
Add comment
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Theatre
The Producers, Menier Chocolate Factory review - liberating taboo-busting fun for grown-ups
Director Patrick Marber does Mel Brooks's 1967 musical proud
A Midsummer Night's Dream, RSC, Barbican review - visually ravishing with an undercurrent of violence
This psychedelic mashup conveys a sci-fi-style alternate reality
Hansel and Gretel, Shakespeare's Globe review - too saccharine a retelling for our times
Songs and sweeties, but insufficient sourness and sadism for fans of fairytales
The Importance of Being Earnest, National Theatre review - no shortage of acid-tipped delight
Oscar Wilde speaks just as strongly to the 21st century as he did to his own
Twelfth Night, Orange Tree Theatre review - perfectly pitched sad and merry musical mayhem
Shakespeare's comedy of identity confusion benefits from a 1940s setting
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, The Other Palace - all Greek to me
Myths and monsters make for a curiously bland and bloodless musical
Expendable, Royal Court review - intensely felt family drama
New play about a paedophile ring foregrounds the voices of British-Pakistani women
The Purists, Kiln Theatre review - warm, witty, thoughtful and un-woke
Dan McCabe's play about ageing hiphop stars makes a winning European debut
The Dead, ANU, Landmark Productions, MoLI Dublin review - vital life, love and death in perfect equilibrium
Joyce’s great short story fully realised for ‘invited guests’ by a perfect ensemble
All's Well That Ends Well, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse review - Shakespeare at his least likeable
New production lands on shaky ground in 2024
Wicked review - overly busy if beautifully sung cliffhanger
Musical theatre behemoth becomes an outsized film - and this is just part one
King James, Hampstead Theatre review - UK premiere drains a three-pointer
LeBron James comes and goes, and comes back again to the Cavs
Comments
...