Salford Academic’s Work to be Featured in 40th Anniversary of the UK’s first National Pride
An academic at the Â׸£ÀûƬ will have his work featured in the year-long celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the UK’s first-ever National pride.
Stephen Hornby, a Fellow in Drama & Theatre Practice, is working with Inkbrew Productions to create an immersive performance recreating Pride 81.
It will feature 10 monologues written by Stephen, Abi Hynes, and Peter Scott-Presland (an original Pride 81 marcher), that form the heart of the piece. The audience will be participants in the march, co-creating the piece with actors playing activists from 1981, who tell their stories as they march.
Stephen, who is an award-winning playwright, and the National Playwright in Residence to LGBT History Month said: “The Pride march of 1981 was full of extraordinary characters from Huddersfield and from across the country.
“It’s a treasure trove for playwrights and Abi and I can’t wait to get started. We hope some local writers will be joining us to rediscover what marching in the UK’s first national Pride felt like.â€
The Gemini Club was opened in 1976 in Huddersfield and became a popular nightclub for gay and bisexual men. The West Yorkshire Police Force regularly raided the club, and in a show of solidarity, the organisers of Pride moved it from London creating the UK’s first National Pride.
The celebrations will also feature a photographic exhibition, with 20 portraits of people who marched in 1981 and people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community in Huddersfield today.
The yearlong multi-media celebration will take place from now until July 2022. If you would like to enjoy the celebrations, follow #Pride1981 on social media to find out more.
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