Philip Venables

A composer of ferocious dramatic instincts
— Alex Ross

Tag: Yshani Perinpanayagam

Press images of The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions by Tristram Kenton.

Some production images from the Manchester International Festival production of The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions, June 2023 (based on the book by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta 1977).

Cast: Kerry Bursey, Jacob Garside, Katherine Goforth, Kit Green, Conor Gricmanis, Mariamielle Lamagat, Eric Lamb, Themba Mvula, Meriel Price, Yshani Perinpanayagem, Collin Shay, Joy Smith, Sally Swanson, Yandass.

Text & Direction by Ted Huffman, Music by Philip Venables, Music Direction by Yshani Perinpanayagem, Costume by Theo Clinkard & Sophie Donaldson, Choreography by Theo Clinkard, Sound by Simon Hendry, Design by Rosie Elnile, Lighting by Bertrand Couderc, Dramaturgy by Scottee. All images by Tristram Kenton. They can be used for press purposes with the appropriate credit.

5 July 2023
The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions at Manchester International Festival

The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions has just been announced by Factory International as part of this year’s Manchester International Festival. This will be the world premiere, on 29th June 2023.

Step into a world where fables and myths celebrate queer community, friendship and pleasure: a manifesto for survival for the marginalised everywhere. Based on the 1977 cult book by Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta, The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions is a music theatre piece that reimagines the history of the world through a queer lens. In this adaptation by composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman, the original text is taken on a kaleidoscopic journey by a cast of actors, singers and musicians. Together they conjure up a world on the brink of revolution – expect battle re-enactments crossed with cheerleading, all night raves mixed with lute songs and court dances.

Fifteen performers will bring this piece to life on stage, including baroque and modern instruments, led by Music Director Yshani Perinpanayagam, directed by Ted Huffman, design by Rosie Elnile, choregraphy and costumes by Theo Clinkard, Sound Design by Simon Hendry and dramaturgy by renowned theatre-maker Scottee.

Ticket are available here.

The work has been commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and NYU Center in New York City. Other performances will be announced in due course.

Poster image by Damian Frost.

14 March 2023
“The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions”at Aix-en-Provence Festival

The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions, has just been announced by Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in France, in July 2023. This will not be the world premiere (which is still to be announced), but will be the European premiere.

The music theatre piece, which we are calling a ‘baroque fantasia’, is another collaboration with Ted Huffman, and based on the 1977 cult book of the same name by Larry Mitchell (illustrations by Ned Asta). We have reworked Mitchell’s text into a kaleidoscopic, hyper-theatrical bedtime story, that re-imagines the history of the world in the fantasy city of Ramrod, where fables and myths become a celebration of sex, pleasure, and queer community: a manifesto for survival.

Fifteen performers will bring this piece to life on stage, including baroque and modern instruments, led by Music Director Yshani Perinpanayagam and directed by Ted Huffman. Our dramaturg is the the theatre-maker Scottee.

The work has been commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and NYU Center in New York City. Other performances, including the world premiere, and the rest of the creative team and cast will be announced in due course.

23 November 2022
“The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions”announced at Bregenz Festival

My next opera, The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions, has just been announced by Bregenz Festival in Austria, in July 2023. This will not be the world premiere (which is still to be announced), but will be the Austrian premiere.

After five years of planning, it is wonderful to finally announce my third opera, my second opera written with Ted Huffman, and our eighth collaboration. The show, which we are calling a ‘baroque fantasia’, is based on the 1977 cult book of the same name by Larry Mitchell (illustrations by Ned Asta). We have reworked Mitchell’s text into a kaleidoscopic, hyper-theatrical bedtime story, that re-imagines the history of the world in the fantasy city of Ramrod, where fables and myths become a celebration of sex, pleasure, and queer community: a manifesto for survival.

Fifteen performers will bring this piece to life on stage, including baroque and modern instruments, led by Music Director Yshani Perinpanayagam and directed by Ted Huffman. Our dramaturg is the the theatre-maker Scottee.

The work has been commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Bregenzer Festspiele and NYU C e n t e r in New York City. Other performances, including the world premiere, and the rest of the creative team and cast will be announced in due course.

Illustration © Bregenzer Festspiele. Title image by Ned Asta, from the cover of the book.

17 November 2022