Returning to Camden People’s Theatre after being presented as a work-in progress in 2022, GRILLS now comes back as the headline production of the Camden Roar festival.
It’s a devised piece co-produced by Mirrorball and Camden People’s Theatre and places the archive of the Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group in a modern context.
Set in both the 1980s and in the present day, the four-strong cast of actor/devisers play a range of characters across the gender spectrum.
The four themselves are outside the usual gender binary, which adds an extra layer to the attitudes and norms of a world which celebrated lesbian difference but which was straightjacketed by Clause 28 and a deep distrust of men, plus an unconscious layer of racism.
The archive is currently situated in Glasgow Women’s Library, where the team checked through the CLC/BLG records to find inspiration for GRILLS.
Some material in the 75-minute show is true, some imagined, some in-between. There is a lot to process as we move back and forward in time, and also in keeping track of who’s who.
When a trans woman podcaster (Jaye Hudson, she/her) arrives to delve deep into the lives of her sisters, she finds that the archive may not be as kind and inclusive as she hoped.
Also on the hunt for material is a TikToker (India Jean-Jaques, they/them), who realises at one point that they have a far wider reach than the centre ever did, and can bring the archive to many more people than the physical space in Glasgow can manage.
So, inclusivity and visibility are themes which run throughout GRILLS. In the 1980s scenes, the phone constantly rings and often brings abuse on the end of the line.
Concerns about women who teach, disgust at ‘what you do’, creepy insinuations from men looking for an ‘experience’.
In the paperwork, there’s a deep-rooted intolerance against women who may be lesbian but also slightly off the norm, so BDSM is frowned upon, as is engagement with erotica. ‘Constructed women’ (i.e., trans) are barred from membership.
Niamh (Olivia Dowd, she/they), the financial officer, is always worried about money and funding, and how the centre looks to outsiders.
She also, unwittingly, discounts the valuable work of the Black Lesbian cohort, notably their creative writing workshop, which brings a safe space to those women twice marginalised by their colour and orientation.
For Sheila (Ishmael Kirby, he/they), her personal and professional partner, who is black, the conflict feels exhausting.
GRILLS is full of music, celebration, and history. It isn’t afraid to ask questions or point fingers at current gender critical debates.
There will still be people in 2024 who seek guidance and someone to tell them,’you are OK in who you are’. We still look for safe spaces while welcoming our sisters and non-binary cousins into the fold.
Mirrorball’s production is about community, about what is seen to be essential, and what is seen as identity.
With a set consisting of four filing cabinets (with lights within) which becomes a choreographed space where the four can argue, dance, explore, and chat, and a noticeboard which is first filled with flyers and then becomes a space for imagination and memory to fill, it remains a dynamic space throughout.
There is a kiss, there is an implied physical attack. There are moments of conflict and clever inclusion of redacted items in the archive through sound design and mime.
The ghosts of the women – known and unknown – who passed through the doors of the CLC on Phoenix Road (not far from the CPT) are brought back to the stage.
Their work and that of their satellite groups like GEMMA (lesbians with disabilities) and Zaminass (Black lesbians) are celebrated through their history/herstory.
GRILLS isn’t perfect. The CLC/BLG wasn’t, either, but it was a necessary part of a society which reveiled difference and promoted division.
In 2024, when there is a rising of intolerance from gender critical radical feminists against trans women, there are definite parallels with the attitudes against gay men and lesbians forty years ago. So GRILLS is both celebration and caution.
A thought-provoking piece brought to the stage with love and energy, from a passionate and exciting young company, GRILLS, directed by Chloe Christian, headlines the Camden Roar festival and runs until 22 Jun.
For details on this and other shows at the festival, which celebrates 25 years of Camden People’s Theatre, visit the CPT website.
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Image credit: Mirrorball / Harry Elletson