A decade after leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom is on the brink of chaos, with food rationing, labour shortages and no end in sight to a nine year state of emergency.
In contrast, Scotland (now a separate republic) is thriving after being granted EU membership.
In Westminster, an extreme right wing Tory government have turned what remains of the UK into a regulation free tax haven, a playground for the filthy rich. Appalled by these polices and emboldened by the example of Scotland, liberal minded, pro-European Londoners vote for a Mayor who is campaigning for London to become an independent City State and ultimately to re-join the EU.
Emily Bronte's timeless revenge tragedy is transposed to the stage and set in the modern day. High on the windswept Yorkshire moors, Old Earnshaw, a struggling sheep farmer, adopts a Romanian immigrant, naming him, 'Heathcliff'. The orphan soon becomes Earnshaw's favourite, much to the dismay of the farmer's brutal and xenophobic son, Hindley. Heathcliff develops a deep and abiding passion for Earnshaw's daughter, Catherine, but when the old man dies, so too does Heathcliff's protection from Hindley's jealous bigotry.
Can you fall in love with someone if you don't know their gender? Peter is about to find out when he falls for the sexually ambiguous ‘Blue’. Their relationship poses a challenge to Peter’s identity, forcing him to face some difficult questions: To what extent are we all encouraged to conform to narrow culturally defined stereotypes, to label and to pigeon-hole ourselves? Are these labels a form of straight jacket, by adapting to them do we compromise our true nature and can we defy the ultimate label of gender? Casting caution to the wind, Peter’s passion for Blue provokes prejudice and hostility from friends and family in a tale of sexual liberation and shattered taboos.
First performed at the Brighton Fringe Festival, then at Tristan Bates Theatre, Covent Garden & Etcetera Theatre, Camden. The next production will be in Lisbon (at Centro Cultural Malaposta).
Boy Stroke Girl will be translated into Portuguese and directed by Isabel Medina.
