The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions – Review of 2023 Aix-En-Provence Festival Production

The Faggots And Their Friends Between Revolutions is a new opera with music by Philip Venables and a libretto by Ted Huffman. “New” in this case is precise. It received its premiere on June 29 at the Manchester International Festival and then it opened at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France on July 7, 2023, for only three performances.
It is about gay rights, of course, but I am not sure about the political correctness of the use of the word faggots. That and many other words that may be considered unacceptable by some are used in the opera and the source is no doubt the novel on which it is based.
The Faggots And Their Friends Between Revolutions is a novel written by Larry Mitchell and illustrated by Ned Asta. Published in 1977, it is about gay rights and consists of one-page vignettes of gay life. It is based on the experiences of Mitchell and Asta and is one of the earlier books about gay rights. The book was all but forgotten until the fiftieth anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York where there were serious clashes between police and homosexuals.
The opera is staged in the Pavillon Noir, a large, dark, empty space where the actor/singers perform a largely narrative story with music and songs about gay rights. There are no named characters, and the 15 performers tell us the story of life in the mythical Empire of Ramrod. It is in decline and the gays recall the bad days of life as homosexuals. The empire is ruled by men and the gay men or faggots as they refer to themselves live separately in their own community.
Homosexuals form a broad spectrum in our community from faggots (gay men) to faeries, drag queens and lesbians. And that does not account for all the people represented by the letters LGBTQS+. “It’s been a long time and we are still not free” is the refrain that we hear about the lives of faggots. They describe and celebrate their cohesiveness as they decry the hatreds that they encounter even among themselves at times. They speak of “the ritual of brief encounters in the night” where they meet, have quick sex and say nothing.
The opera uses a variety of musical styles including Hydenesque music. The musicians are on stage, and they change instruments as they need them. We see a variety of instruments from baroque to today including accordions and a harpsichord.
The program provides a good summary of what we see, and I do not hesitate to quote it. It states that the production is a fantastic parable hiding a political manifesto, a radical vision of the evolution of the world through a queer lens: Faggots draws a revolutionary counter-utopia for all the oppressed, against a patriarchal model that is on its way out. From this colourful, amusingly irreverent work, full of joyful madness, Philip Venables and Ted Huffman have worked together once again … to create a playful, madcap and profound patchwork somewhere between an opera and a cabaret revue. The fifteen performers are in turn singers, actors, and instrumentalists. And they remind us that, yes, pleasure is on the side of the good.
I want to take a bow to the performers. They do not represent named characters but they act, sing, dance, or play instruments in outbursts of activity that is amazing for the energy that they create or in more sedate sections describing the life of homosexuals. They are: Yshani Perinpanayagam, Kerry Bursey, Jacob Garside, Katherine Goforth, Kit Green, Conor Gricmanis, Deepa Johnny, Mariamielle Lamagat, Eric Lamb, Themba Mvula, Meriel Price, Collin Shay, Joy Smith, Sally Swanson, and Yandass.
Ted Huffman has written the text and directs the performance. Yshani Perinpanayagam is in charge of musical direction with Theo Clinkard responsible for choreography and costume design. Set design is by Rosie Elnile. Lighting design is by Bertrand Couderc and Sound design is by Simon Hendry.
The Faggots is another example of cooperation by a breathtaking number of organizations in the production of a one-act opera. The production is by Factory International for the Manchester International Festival and is a coproduction of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Bregenzer festspiel, the Southbank Centre, London and the NYU Skirball in association with the Holland Festival.
The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions by Philip Venables (music) and Ted Huffman (text) adapted from the novel by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta was performed on July 7, 8 and 9, 2023 at the Pavillon Noir, Aix-en-Provence, France. www.festival-aix.com/

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