The premiere of Gay Pride And No Prejudice by David Kerby-Kendall and directed by Luke Fredericks to open at Union Theatre.
Peppered with comedy, Gay Pride and No Prejudice is the story of two men and one woman’s struggle for acceptance in an era when the few retained the right to judge the many.
Darcy has loved Bingley since they were boys. At first through the innocent lens of childhood, but now the hunger to play childish games has been replaced by a more dangerous desire. For if Darcy admits his love, will Bingley and the judgemental lens of adulthood cast him out of Society?
It is 1812, and a few self-appointed men have kidnapped God and democracy. They have decided, in their absence, that two men must never be together. Bingley has accepted this and so attempts to fall for the demure and lovely Jane Bennet. Darcy, already suffering, falls foul of Jane’s sister, the not-at-all demure, Elizabeth (Lizzie). Lizzie is outspoken in her wish for gender equality: for husbands to take their wives’ surnames and, ‘horror of horrors’, for a woman to eventually become Prime Minister. But her prejudice toward Darcy’s pride and wealth begins to melt when he proves himself an outspoken advocate of women’s rights.
Bingley seeks Mr & Mrs Bennet’s feelings about marriage (“Mrs Bennet and I were deliriously happy for 18 years…and then we met”) in order to plan a perfect, but false future with Jane, and it is ultimately he who must decide between an assumed happiness or his love for Darcy; a love that, in the 19th century, ‘dare not speak its name’.
Sophie Bloor (Elizabeth Bennet).
Credits include: In The Dark (BBC1), £5 Entry (BBC Three), Animal Farm (Peckham Theatre), The York Witches Society (Amazon Prime), Personal Best (BFI short).
Sophie Bradley (Jane Bennet).
Theatre includes All of Us and Manor (National Theatre), A New Coat for Christmas (Reading Rep), Last Man Standing (Theatre N16).
Michael Gillette (Darcy).
His credits including the dual starring roles in Jekyll & Hyde, Danny in the rock n’ roll musical The Bastard Sons Of A Small Town Elvis (Union Theatre), Ricky Carter/Yusif in Power and Protest, a collection of political short plays (Drayton Arms Theatre).
Noah Butt (Bingley).
Previous roles include Mark/Mia in Things I Know to Be True, Nudist in Percy Gloom. His film work includes Glamour, playing Ru Cage in Giddy Stratospheres, Peer in Masc.
Marianne March (Mrs. Bennet).
Currently appearing in Hard Times (Netflix) and six-part thriller Suspicion (AppleTV+). Her theatre credits includes: Threshold (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Grief and Shabbash (Young Vic, Tricycle Theatre and touring), Wind in the Willows (Southampton), The Starlight Cloak (Polka Theatre).
David Kerby-Kendall (Mr. Bennet).
Theatre roles include: Lawrence in Abigail’s Party, Elyot in Private Lives, Laertes in Hamlet, Guy Burgess in An Englishman Abroad and Chris in Jack Shepherd’s award-winning Half Moon. TV: Judge Angel in The Crown.
Written by David Kerby-Kendall
Directed by Luke Fredericks
Production Designer Bob Sterrett
Produced by Stephen Leslie Productions
