Nisha Oza for The Lot Productions today announces that Cayvan Coates joins Richard Cant to complete the cast of What It Means, a new play by James Corley. Directed by The Lot’s Creative Director, Harry Mackrill, the production opens at Wilton’s Music Hall on 9 October, with previews from 4 October, and runs until 28 October.
What It Means is an adaptation of Merle Miller’s seminal essay What It Means to be a Homosexual. Printed in 1971 in the New York Times and published as On Being Different by Penguin. This act of bravery and quiet protest has become a defining part of the LGBTQ+ rights movement as we know it today. An emotional, one-person voyage through history – some personal, some not – What It Means speaks directly to audiences about the importance of standing up for what you believe in, accepting the validity of one’s own voice and taking a courageous step onto the platform that is offered to you.
The true story behind one of the most impactful pieces of writing ever published in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality.
September 1970. A year after the Stonewall Riots, Harper’s Magazine publish the now notorious article ‘Homo/hetero: the struggle for sexual identity’. Acclaimed journalist and former editor of Harper’s Magazine, Merle Miller reads the article from his home in upstate New York and decides to take a stand.
September 1971. Merle sits at his desk and begins to write. Part man, part memory he invites the audience to join him on an incredible journey of his life from provincial Iowa to the pages of the New York Times.
What It Means is an emotional voyage through history – some personal, some not, highlighting the importance of standing up for what you believe in, accepting the validity of one’s own voice and taking a courageous step onto the platform that is offered to you however long it may take.
