Out On Stage

How to Make Queer Theatre

A practical guide to all aspects of creating and staging your own piece of queer theatre, packed with ideas and inspiration for any aspiring or emerging theatre maker.

This is a book of queer ideas, queer questions and queer inspiration.

It provides hands-on advice and guidance on all aspects of creating and staging your own piece of queer theatre, including:

• Identifying the queer story you want to tell, generating your material, and developing your own voice as a queer theatre maker
• Choosing the best form to express your ideas, from a scripted drama or solo show to musical theatre, cabaret or live art
• Deciding on your creative approach, whether it's writing an original play, devising, adapting the lived experiences of yourself or others, or queering existing material
• Considering key aspects of queer performance, including drag, alter egos, solo performance, and using the body to tell queer stories and express queer identity
• Putting your show on, from securing a venue and applying for funding, to working with a producer, building partnerships, and attracting an audience
• Overcoming the challenges you'll face, being brave, and tapping into queer theatre's power as a catalyst for change 

It's packed with inspiring examples drawn from the vast span of queer theatre – from coming-out stories, lesbian dramas and plays about trans identity, to autobiographical pieces and hidden queer histories – as well as creative activities to help you put your ideas into practice.

Also included are insightful contributions from leading queer theatre makers including Travis Alabanza, Neil Bartlett, Jo Clifford, Nathaniel J Hall, Jonathan Harvey, Ursula Martinez, Martin O'Brien and Iman Qureshi.

Whatever stage you're at in your theatre-making journey, this book will guide and empower you to find your own distinctive way of working – and make the work that only you can make.

Martin Lewton is an actor, director and writer with more than forty plays professionally staged. He is Artistic Director of Theatre North and teaches acting and writing at the Institute of the Arts Barcelona.

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