A powerful and moving story of queer communities in Brixton, On Railton Road is the first theatre production to be staged at Hackney’s amazing Museum of the Home. Based on real people and their lived experiences of squatting in the 70s, this landmark production will utilise rare archival interviews to bring this revolutionary period to life on stage, highlighting domestic spaces, making Museum of the Home the perfect setting.
From 1971, until Brixton was set ablaze during the uprisings of 1981, Railton Road became a hub of unrepressed activist energy and thus became a magnet for a thrillingly diverse collection of individuals whose mission was to turn the world upside down. Developed with the support of Jerwood Arts, Artist and Director Ian Giles (A Reflection in Time, BBC Sounds) and founder of The Brixton Pansies theatre troupe, was heavily inspired by the lively activist theatre groups of the 1970s when first devising the show back in 2021.
On Railton Road is a play about homemaking, freedom and a pioneering family of gay men who fought to have their voices heard. Following the lives of four friends who resided on Railton Road, this electric production will immerse audiences directly in the action through puppetry, verbatim theatre and scripted drama as the company re-tell this rich and expansive story.
Writer Louis Rembges is the recipient of the BOLD 2023 Playwriting Prize, as well as an alumni of the Royal Court’s Intro to Playwriting Group; his script will be supported by a score devised by Sophie Crawford (War Horse, The National Theatre; Amelie the Musical, UK Tour) All puppetry is designed by award-winning London-based puppet artist, Olives James Hymans who has created puppets for events at Tate Moden and the National Gallery.
Director Ian Giles comments, I am so excited to be sharing this story about a group of gay men who not only saved their street from demolition, they also helped pave the way for generations of LGBTQIA+ people to live openly and freely. Their visibility changed lives. It will be fantastic to mount a full scale production of our play at the Museum of the Home within an immersive space that will bring this hidden London story to life!
Amazing… a room filled with queer energy! – Mark Ravenhill
Richly layered and by turns hilarious and deeply affecting, ‘On Railton Road’ throws you headlong into a radical past where queer collectively transformed the lives of a unique community. – Sam Ashby, Editor of Little Joe Magazine.
