Ch-ch-ch-changes... The gay men who dance to David Bowie in the 1994 hit comedy My Night With Reg could not have predicted that 20 years later lesbians and gay men would be getting married. To accompany the Donmar's critically acclaimed revival of Kevin Elyot's landmark play, David Benedict, chief London critic of Variety, asks lesbian and gay cultural figures what has changed onstage and off?
Donmar Warehouse presents MY NIGHT WITH REG, a panel discussion, on Wednesday 10 September at 6pm. Speakers include director, author and performer Neil Bartlett, novelist and TV producer Matt Cain, actor and screenwriter Mark Gatiss, and founder member of the Stonewall Group and former policy director of the Terrence Higgins Trust Lisa Power.
Neil Bartlett, who served as Artistic Director at the Lyric Hammersmith from 1994 until 2005, is well known for a number of productions including Or You Could Kiss Me (National Theatre, in collaboration with Handspring), Twelfth Night (RSC), Don Juan (Lyric Hammersmith) and More Bigger Snacks Now (Complicite). As well as his novels, Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall and Mr Clive and Mr Page, Neil's most recent book The Disappearance Boy was released this summer.
Culture critic and broadcaster David Benedict read drama at Hull University, working initially as an actor and director before becoming artistic director of the national lesbian and gay theatre company Gay Sweatshop. Now the chief London critic for Variety, he was formerly the daily arts columnist on The Independent and the arts editor of The Observer. He writes for The Guardian and The Arts Desk and is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review, Front Row and Theatre Voice.
Matt Cain, previously the first-ever Culture Editor at Channel 4, is a full-time writer whose first novel, Shot Through the Heart, was released in April 2014. Matt has also written articles for The Times, The Independent, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express, and continues to contribute a monthly column on gay cultural history to Attitude magazine.
Mark Gatiss has performed twice at the Donmar in Josie Rourke's productions Coriolanus and The Recruiting Officer. Other theatre credits include 55 Days (Hampstead Theatre), Season's Greetings (National Theatre) and All About My Mother (The Old Vic). Recently he has played Mycroft Holmes in the BBC television series Sherlock and was co-creator and star of The League of Gentlemen. Feature films include Starter for Ten, Match Point and The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse.
Lisa Power has been a gay, then lesbian and gay, now LGBT+ activist since the 1970s. She was one of the co-founders of the Stonewall Group, and an early Secretary-General of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, being the first LGBT person to speak for gay rights at the UN. She spent 17 years with the Terrence Higgins Trust, mostly as Policy Director and 14 years on London Gay Switchboard (as was then). She is the author of No Bath But Plenty Of Bubbles, an oral history of the Gay Liberation Front.
On its premiere, My Night With Reg defined a moment in the lives of gay men and became an instant classic. The comedy is set in London's gay community in the mid-1980s, against the back drop of the mounting AIDS crisis. Robert Hastie's production stars Julian Ovenden as John, Matt Bardock as Benny, Jonathan Broadbent as Guy, Richard Cant as Bernie, Lewis Reeves as Eric and Geoffrey Streatfeild as Daniel.
BOOKING DETAILS FOR PANEL DISCUSSION
Wednesday 10 September, 6pm
45 minutes
0844 871 7624
£7.50 (no booking fee)
MY NIGHT WITH REG DETAILS:
ADDRESS: Donmar Warehouse, 41 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9LX
BOX OFFICE: 0844 871 7624 (Booking fee of £2.50 per transaction); Telephone Mon-Sat 9am-10pm, Sun 10am-8pm; In person, Mon-Sat, 10.00am-curtain up (No booking fee).
PERFORMANCE TIMES: Dates: Until Sat 27 September 2014; Evenings Mon - Sat 7.30pm; Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm
TICKETS: Stalls £35, £27.50, £10*; Circle £27.50, £15, £10*; *£10 tickets are made available every Monday two weeks before the performance as part of Barclays Front Row. For more information, visit donmarwarehouse.com/barclaysfrontrow. Excludes certain performances. For over 60s, £35 tickets reduced to £25 and £27.50 tickets reduced to £20 (matinees only). Must be booked in advance and proof of eligibility must be shown on collection.
All phone and online bookings are taken by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG Tickets). The booking fee is waived for all bookings made during the Priority Booking period. Outside of Priority Booking a £2.50 per transaction fee applies. No fee applies to Barclays Front Row tickets or tickets purchased in person at the Donmar Warehouse.
STANDING TICKETS: £7.50 standing tickets available every day from 10am in person at the Box Office.
ACCESS: The Donmar Warehouse is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome in the auditorium. There is an infrared system in the main auditorium and there is also a hearing loop in the Box Office.
ASSISTED PERFORMANCES: £15. To book call 020 7845 8573 or email access@donmarwarehouse.com. For all other access enquiries or bookings call 0844 871 7677. CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE, Wednesday 17 Sep, 7.30pm (captioned by Stagetext). AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE, Saturday 20 September, 2.30pm (Touch Tour at 1.30pm). To book tickets for the above performances, call 020 7845 8573 or email access@donmarwarehouse.com. For all other access enquiries or bookings, call 0844 871 7677.
TRANSPORT & PARKING: Tubes: Covent Garden, Leicester Sq, Charing Cross, Holborn, Tottenham Court Road; Buses: Destination Leicester Sq.14, 19, 24, 29, 38, 176; Parking: Masterpark
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