The brilliant annual LGBT arts festival
Homotopia launched last night, and one of the most intriguing works in its extensive programme is
Council House Movie Star, described as "an immersive live arts installation exploring themes of ageing and the non-heterosexual experience".
It captures the weird, wonderful and darkly comic aspects of the everyday life of Gale Force, an ageing drag queen and failed child star of OMO Washing Powder commercials, in her run-down council house. Did we mention the entire building will be inside Camp and Furnace? Audiences will enter an approximation of the council house, inhabited variously by Gale Force, her social worker Dawn Patrol, friends Donna Rhea and Chris D’Bray and other family members. The public are able to drop in for a nose from October 30 through to November 11, between 12pm and 5pm.
An accompanying gallery exhibition will feature 7ft fine art paintings of Gale Force created over the last two years by North West artist Pete Bennett. A further space will show a 30 minute film, Council House Movie Star, on continuous loop to audiences sat on lavatories -- as you do.
Council House Movie Star was created by contemporary dancer Mark Edward, who is now a senior lecturer in performance at Edge Hill University, in partnership with award winning film-maker Rosa Fong and Dr Mark Fremaux, who are both also senior lecturers at Edge Hill.
Mark said: “I want audiences to see beneath the persona of Gale Force, to get a glimpse of what it’s like behind closed doors, away from the bright lights. There is a lot of work around youth in performance but very little about the ageing performer, especially drag queens.”
Gary Everett, director of Homotopia, said: “The theme of this year’s festival is ‘traditional family values’ and Council House Movie Star is one of the key elements. It explores and interrogates ageing from a performative and queer perspective in a timely and relevant way.”
