A composer of ferocious dramatic instincts
— Alex Ross
The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions has been shortlisted for the Stage Works category of the 2024 Ivors Classical Awards. The awards ceremony will take place at the British Film Institute on the South Bank in London on 12th November 2024. The other shortlisted composers are Matthew Grouse, Jonathan Dove, George Benjamin and Bushra El-Turk.
Some production images from the Manchester International Festival production of The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions, June 2023 (based on the book by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta 1977).
Cast: Kerry Bursey, Jacob Garside, Katherine Goforth, Kit Green, Conor Gricmanis, Mariamielle Lamagat, Eric Lamb, Themba Mvula, Meriel Price, Yshani Perinpanayagem, Collin Shay, Joy Smith, Sally Swanson, Yandass.
Text & Direction by Ted Huffman, Music by Philip Venables, Music Direction by Yshani Perinpanayagem, Costume by Theo Clinkard & Sophie Donaldson, Choreography by Theo Clinkard, Sound by Simon Hendry, Design by Rosie Elnile, Lighting by Bertrand Couderc, Dramaturgy by Scottee. All images by Tristram Kenton. They can be used for press purposes with the appropriate credit.
‘The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions‘ received its world premiere on 29th June 2023 at HOME Theatre as part of Manchester International Festival. There were some notable previews in The Guardian and the New York Times and an introductory essay by Patrick O’Connell. Audiences and Critics alike responded positively to the show; here are some press excerpts:
“its meld of music, dance, and opera transcends the form into something magical.” — Lost in Theatreland (5 stars)
“This masterpiece does not rewrite history, it radically retells it… Prepare for passion, poignancy and pithiness… this show is bursting with joy throughout.” — Manchester Evening News (5 stars)
“An exquisite, revolutionary riot with a cavalcade of queer talent calling out the need to fight for queer joy and not to assimilate… The Faggots and Their Friends is a powerful reminder to keep fighting for queer joy and resist living the status quo in a heavenly punk opera for all.” — To Do List (5 stars)
“At times chaotic but never less than virtuosic, Philip Venables’ take on Larry Mitchell’s 70s manifesto is gritty but sensual and extravagant… served up with such raw energy and panache, it’s also irresistibly, unforgettably compelling.” — The Guardian (4 stars)
“Larry Mitchell’s 1977 cult book The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions – part queer manifesto, part fable – explodes into life in Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s exhilarating stage version. It’s as resistant to easy classification as its source material, blending theatre, opera, movement and music… Venables’ distinct, original music is also key to the narrative momentum: dramatic strings convey the violence of the men; soaring arias capture the community’s sorrow or yearning; a solo on the cello or violin distils a mood. There’s a baroque vibe, with a theorbo and a harpsichord alongside flutes and harps, but the music can be anarchic, audacious and a lot of fun, too. One song about how much the men love paperwork shifts from the cast rhythmically scrunching sheets of paper to a flurry of salsa and into an accordion-led music-hall-style knees-up… a genuinely fresh and distinctive new work that gladdens the heart.” — The Stage (4 stars)
“this piece has a directness and a lyrical memorability that is compelling. Sometimes it might be a single instrument — a harp, a cello, a fiddle — hauntingly underscoring the voice. Elsewhere he ramps up all available resources in rambunctious, stamping dances that evoke one of those wild Balkan bands in full cry.” — The Times (4 stars)
“The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions is unlike anything else being shown today… One moment, it is eerie and heartbreaking, the next it is joyous and stirring… Radical and playful, The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions brings together theatre, dance and song for the ultimate anarchic bedtime story.” — I love Manchester.
“the world’s history as seen by the faggots becomes an opera, a rave, a political rally cry, a court dance, a bard’s ballad, a revolution in the making. — Northern Soul (4 stars)
Photo by Tristram Kenton.
The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions has just been announced by Factory International as part of this year’s Manchester International Festival. This will be the world premiere, on 29th June 2023.
Step into a world where fables and myths celebrate queer community, friendship and pleasure: a manifesto for survival for the marginalised everywhere. Based on the 1977 cult book by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta, The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions is a music theatre piece that reimagines the history of the world through a queer lens. In this adaptation by composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman, the original text is taken on a kaleidoscopic journey by a cast of actors, singers and musicians. Together they conjure up a world on the brink of revolution – expect battle re-enactments crossed with cheerleading, all night raves mixed with lute songs and court dances.
Fifteen performers will bring this piece to life on stage, including baroque and modern instruments, led by Music Director Yshani Perinpanayagam, directed by Ted Huffman, design by Rosie Elnile, choregraphy and costumes by Theo Clinkard, Sound Design by Simon Hendry and dramaturgy by renowned theatre-maker Scottee.
The work has been commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and NYU Center in New York City. Other performances will be announced in due course.
Poster image by Damian Frost.
The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions, has just been announced by Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in France, in July 2023. This will not be the world premiere (which is still to be announced), but will be the European premiere.
The music theatre piece, which we are calling a ‘baroque fantasia’, is another collaboration with Ted Huffman, and based on the 1977 cult book of the same name by Larry Mitchell (illustrations by Ned Asta). We have reworked Mitchell’s text into a kaleidoscopic, hyper-theatrical bedtime story, that re-imagines the history of the world in the fantasy city of Ramrod, where fables and myths become a celebration of sex, pleasure, and queer community: a manifesto for survival.
Fifteen performers will bring this piece to life on stage, including baroque and modern instruments, led by Music Director Yshani Perinpanayagam and directed by Ted Huffman. Our dramaturg is the the theatre-maker Scottee.
The work has been commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and NYU Center in New York City. Other performances, including the world premiere, and the rest of the creative team and cast will be announced in due course.
My next opera, The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions, has just been announced by Bregenz Festival in Austria, in July 2023. This will not be the world premiere (which is still to be announced), but will be the Austrian premiere.
After five years of planning, it is wonderful to finally announce my third music theatre piece, my second large-scale written with Ted Huffman, and our eighth collaboration. The show, which we are calling a ‘baroque fantasia’, is based on the 1977 cult book of the same name by Larry Mitchell (illustrations by Ned Asta). We have reworked Mitchell’s text into a kaleidoscopic, hyper-theatrical bedtime story, that re-imagines the history of the world in the fantasy city of Ramrod, where fables and myths become a celebration of sex, pleasure, and queer community: a manifesto for survival.
Fifteen performers will bring this piece to life on stage, including baroque and modern instruments, led by Music Director Yshani Perinpanayagam and directed by Ted Huffman. Our dramaturg is the the theatre-maker Scottee.
The work has been commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and NYU Center in New York City. Other performances, including the world premiere, and the rest of the creative team and cast will be announced in due course.
Illustration © Bregenzer Festspiele. Title image by Ned Asta, from the cover of the book.
My collaboration with David Hoyle for Manchester International Festival played every hour of every day on Canal Street through the whole of MIF 2017 – a total of 204 plays! It was recorded with the brass of Manchester Camerata and David, and then made into a sound-art installation across seven speakers along the main strip of Canal Street in the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village. The piece was a tribute to the community, but also touched on themes of assimilation, military industrialisation and gender conformity. The installation was part of MIF’s Music for a Busy City, including other pieces by Olga Neuwirth, Matthew Herbert, Anna Meredith, Huang Ruo and Mohammed Fairouz.
The Irish webzine Buzz.ie said:
Philip Venables’ equally astonishing Canal Street installation also utilises the number of speakers to maximum effect. It is a riveting piece of hi-tech theatre driven by music that is at once menacing, mournful and rousing. Venables’ treatment of the utterly charming David Hoyle’s provocative part polemic, part poem had me rushing from speaker to speaker to try to take it all in.
Huge thanks to Manchester International Festival and Producer Tom Higham – a fantastic team to work with.
Manchester International Festival 2017 was launched today, including the Music for a Busy City. This project takes six composers out of the concert hall and into the city of Manchester, making music for public spaces through which people pass every day. I will be making a sound installation for the heart of the gay village, Canal Street, and it will feature the voice of performance artist David Hoyle. The other artists are Matthew Herbert, Anna Meredith, Huang Ruo, Olga Neuwirth and Mohammed Fairouz. Come along in the summer and check it out – all six installations around the city will be on loop every hour through the 3-week festival.