New work shares the struggles and triumphs of gay men in love

Outlaws to In-laws, a new work supported by Bruno Wang Productions, explores some of the choices gay men have had to make during the past seven decades from the 1950s to the present day.

Featuring seven short plays by leading gay writers Philip Meeks, Jonathan Harvey, Jonathan Kemp, Patrick Wilde, Matt Harris, Topher Campbell and Joshua Val Martin, Outlaws to In-laws takes the audience on a journey through time – documenting a social history of intolerance, violence and hate – that starts with the partial legalisation of homosexuality and ends with the advent of gay marriage.

The stories range from a multi-racial affair set at the time of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee to a relationship threatened by personal politics; a coming-of-age love story in 1950s’ London to a very modern case of wedding-day nerves. The cast are Elliot Balchin (Macbeth, Judas Kiss), Michael Duke (Beautiful, Thriller Live), Jack Bence, Myles Devonté, Alex Marlow and James Richard Marshall.

Outlaws to In-laws is directed by Mary Franklin, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Rough Haired Pointer, supported by set designer PJ McEvoy (Legally Blonde), Olivier Award-winning lighting designer Tim Lutkin (Chimerica, Les Blancs, The Crucible) and sound designer Joshua Robins.

It was conceived by Making Productions (Shutters, The Father, Disaster and Bug) in association with the King’s Head Theatre. Making Productions has a reputation for dynamic theatre and artistic excellence, as well as a commitment to championing ethnic, LGBT and female creatives. The idea behind Outlaws to In-laws came from a wish to focus on stories around the lives of gay men rather than the whole LGBTQ community, which was driven by the writers’ desires to share their own experiences. It also reflects the reality of gay men at the front line of conflict in a way that is more visible to the general population than the other gender- or sexuality-based minority communities.