Review: Queer Eyes on Queer Lives
The gentle LGBTQ+ anthology is on at the Alma Tavern Theatre this week
Queer Eyes on Queer Lives brings an anthology of three gentle and original LGBTQ+ stories to the stage.
The show is written by Louis Davenport and produced by regionally based theatre company Watson’s House Productions.
The show is presented as a tour around a museum of queer history. A theatrical museum of stories is a great concept and gives the opportunity for further expansion on the ideas.
The first story of the evening was The Last Ride of Julie d’Aubigny. She was a real-life sword-fighting, trouser-wearing, bisexual 16th century opera singer. Throwing in a bit of arson and body snatching for good measure shows she was one wild woman.
We meet Julie along with Madame de Florensac, her longest running lesbian lover who has come to kill her husband – Jean Maupin – with a sword. The farcical scene was an energetic start with plenty of slapstick. Kira McGuinness as Julie and Gabriella Ameera as Florensac were well matched, bringing both humour and tenderness to their performances.
Second story Gladiators featured an Oxford history student and Gladiator Balacrus ripped from their respective timelines and imprisoned in a cell divided by an invisible barrier.
An experiment is being conducted by unseen entities to measure the compatibility of the pair as they learn more about each other. Their compatibility rating increases as they grow closer and become more honest with each other. At the point they reach 100 per cent, they are ripped apart, presumably returned to their point in time and never to see each other again.
It explores the experiences of gay men from two quite extreme contrasts. Will they be able to connect? The writing covers the language barrier issue. That whilst both speak their own respective languages, it is going through some kind of telepathic translation circuit to allow them to be understood.
The third and final story, which is the most successful of the three, is an absurdist murder mystery ensemble piece. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs is considered to be one of the world’s first gay men. It stems from his civil rights work in the 19th century spearheading the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. He has also been murdered.
As a bystander implores that someone call the police, Dr Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal steps forwards to take charge. He is joined by Dr Richard von Krafft-Ebing and Dr Sigmund Freud, their investigation initially led by Krafft-Ebing’s approach to forensic medicine.
It starts off as a comedy piece. Actors Kira McGuinness, Owen Ellis and Geo Farmer are fine comic performers making this the strongest piece of the three.
Freddie Brown is the murdered Karl Heinrich Ulrichs – artistic license has been taken as this is not how he died in real life.
Ulrichs returns to life, turning the piece on its head from humour to one that is accusatory. He points the finger at those who killed him, namely the doctors solving the crime who have at some points in their careers been problematic with their work.
Krafft-Ebing was known for his work calling homosexuality a congenital nervous disease. Westphal for his belief homosexuality should come under psychiatric care.
Overall the three pieces make for a nice contrast in style. The first two pieces might benefit from more development around the writing.
Although there is a time limitation to fit the three pieces together and the pieces are clearly meant to err on the light hearted side, the earlier parts of Gladiators didn’t really give Balacrus the chance to persuade us he was a man from ancient Rome in a profession that basically kills people in violent games.
Perhaps it felt too much like a British comedy sketch for TV and lacked the dramatic tension two men taken against their will and locked in a cell should generate.
The first story would also benefit from some slightly tighter direction, which was in danger of losing the character of Jean Maupin in the shifting dynamics.
Queer Eyes on Queer Lives is on at the Alma Tavern Theatre until 20 August 2026
For more information or to book, visit: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/almatheatrecompany/2268897
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