Queer theatre with ‘real humans at the heart of the story’

Telling eight untold stories from the LGBT community’s past, BUTTERFLY is a play showcasing the tales from queer history that are too often hidden.

Meeting with Sam Jones, 20-year-old director of the production and Clodagh Chapman, 21-year-old narrative director, both students at The University of Bristol, they explain why they felt the need to tell the stories and perform a piece queer theatre created by young people.

Clodagh Chapman and Sam Jones tell Bristol24/7 about the untold queer stories in BUTTERFLY

The play tells the stories of the gay community across time, weaving together to create a “trail of breadcrumbs” for the audience to follow, working out how the tales link together. Sam explains that the stories are “diverse, ranging from Elizabethan times to World Ward Two,” and Clodagh adds that they’re “queer, human stories. It’s not a history lesson, it’s real humans at the heart of it”.

When asked for an example of one of the stories being performed, Sam immediately tells of a drag queen from the 1940s: “There was a soldier in the second world war that performed as a drag queen to boost morale. He admitted he was gay which would mean he had to leave the army, but they kept him on and used his makeup!”

They explain that the play is about “how we tell stories and how they influence the present,” and Sam says this is why the name BUTTERFLY was chosen: “Like the butterfly effect, you know, how a butterfly can flap it’s wings in China and cause a hurricane in Mexico.”

Asking how the idea for the play came about Sam says that, while working at the Tobacco Factory, he started talking to an older queer man, who “told stories about how it’s easier now. He was telling me about law changes and Stonewall, but it wasn’t a history lesson, it was one man’s story.” From there, Sam admits that it’s been a “bit crazy”; after the encounter with the man six months ago, he spent an entire day in the library to learn more and find out about suppressed stories from the LGBT community across time.

He continued alone until seven weeks ago, when he gathered a team of five researchers, four of which identified as LGBT+. They spent days poring over library reference books and speaking to members of the queer community.

Clodagh, who worked specifically to bring narratives of the stories to life says: “Each story could be a production, but it had to come down to what would work.

“Each story has got it’s own flavour, but it’s how it comes together to create a queer space.”

From there, Sam brought together a cast and crew to use the stories to create short improvisations that would later become the play. Clodagh and Sam explain that they’re currently in the middle of final rehearsals before the finished performance is unveiled.

The run will be performed at The Loco Klub as it was decided that an underground venue would be a fitting place to tell hidden stories.

When asked which stories were hardest to bring to the stage, Sam and Clodagh agree on Stonewall. With so many accounts of what happened, and no one reason for the riots starting. In fact, both attest that the more obscure stories were easier to translate into a performance as there was often only one version of events. “The most important thing is that these are real people with real stories, there was a real responsibility,” says Clodagh.

Why the hidden stories, though? Surely it would have been easier to tell more well-known tales? Sam stands by telling the stories that have been suppressed for so long, however: “Queer history is untold or told through big events. It’s dehumanising, and it’s often so sad! The gay people always die!

“There’s a lot of stories of queer white men too. We wanted to make it more diverse.”

This is highlighted in the young, mostly LGBT+, cast and crew and the fresh ideas and the unique set designs, costumes and character developed for the show. The stage is caked in mud and one of the stories is from Elizabethan times but the character drinks a Capri-Sun during the story. The aim is to bring the past into the present.

One of the tales is from as far back as Elizabethan times

When asked what the expect at the show, Sam says: “Well, no one dies! It’s surprisingly funny, and it’s fresh and raw.”

“It says ‘you’re not going to push my story underground’,” adds Clodagh, “it’s an interesting show and there’s real moments of defiance.”

The show is running from Tuesday, March 5 to Thursday, March 7 and tickets can be bought through Headfirst.

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