GLASGAY!
TOP FIVE THINGS TO SEE AT GLASGAY! 2012
HAROLD & MAUDE Glasgay’s main 2012 commission, in collaboration with Theatre Jezebel. This is the UK premiere of Colin Higgins’ stage adaptation of the 1971 cult i lm looking at the unlikely friendship between a spoiled rich kid with melancholy on his mind, and a 79-year-old widow who teaches him the importance of living life to its fullest. ■ Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 30 Oct–3 Nov
JOHN GRANT Frontman of 90s indie act the Czars, Grant will play material from his new album, due for release in spring next year, and 2010’s Queen of Denmark, detailing his troubled childhood as a gay man growing up in a deeply religious family. ■ The Arches, Glasgow, 25 Oct
2012 FILM PROGRAMME Co-ordinated by the GFT, Glasgow collective Lock Up Your Daughters and Glasgay! director Steven Thompson, this year’s programme includes cult classics like Mommie Dearest and Female Trouble, as well as new releases, locally-made short i lms and thought-provoking documentaries. ■ GFT & CCA, Glasgow, 15 Oct–3 Nov
8 The stage premiere of readings from 8, written by Academy Award- winner Dustin Lance Black of Milk and J Edgar fame, and looking at Proposition 8, the discriminatory law which removed the right of LGBT couples in California to marry. ■ Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 4 Nov & Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 6 Nov
FROCK ON FROCK OFF A week-long mini-festival as part of both Glasgay! and Glasgow Cabaret Festival, there is a ‘cabaret come reality TV makeover show’ from hosts Tranny and Roseannah, plus workshops, i lm screenings, art exhibitions and The Olympiad of Drag for a grand i nale. ■ Rose & Grants & The Glue Factory, Glasgow, 23–28 Oct
KENNY MILLER
‘W e all get judged. Our relationships get judged by people on the outside, and our work gets judged by lots of people on the inside and outside of our lives. For a lot of people, Harold & Maude would be a challenging story. We’d all seen the i lm and absolutely loved it, so when I approached Steven Thomson at Glasgay! to see if it was something he would be interested in, he said it was very much something which i tted in with his theme for this year’s festival.
The notion of a 79-year-old woman sleeping and going out with a young boy of 19 would seem completely wrong and abhorrent. It starts out as a friendship and it becomes a learning curve for Harold. Maude brings freedom to his life and gives him a different way of looking at things, which develops into love and a love story onstage. I know a lot of people would think that was very wrong, but why not? No matter what age, why can’t it develop into love? For me, the Equal Marriage campaign is all about love. In my mind, there’s no debate on it. Everyone should be allowed to marry the person they love, regardless of their sexuality or gender. The really brilliant comedienne Susan Calman, who I really love, said, ‘I’m a very difi cult person to live with. If someone wants to marry me and put up with that difi culty, then why shouldn’t they be allowed to?’ And I agree with that. You should just be allowed to marry who you love, regardless.’
Kenny directs the stage adaptation of Harold & Maude, Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 30 Oct–3 Nov. For booking and more information on all of the above, visit glasgay.co.uk.
20 THE LIST 20 Sep–18 Oct 2012