A VERY VICTORIAN SCANDAL
An all-male ball. A Police Raid. A Weekend of Scandal
A Very Victorian Scandal was a series of performances across Manchester, reimagining the a police raid on an all-male fancy dress ball in Hulme, 1880. It was produced as part of the First National Festival of LGBT History in Manchester 2015 and was supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
© 2015 Pagelight Productions
© 2015 Nicolas Chinardet
© 2015 Nicolas Chinardet
© 2015 Pagelight Productions
© 2015 Pagelight Productions
© 2015 Nicolas Chinardet
© 2015 Nicolas Chinardet
© 2015 Pagelight Productions
© 2015 Pagelight Productions
Three Shows Over One Weekend
A Very Victorian Scandal consisted of three short plays, which were produced by Pagelight Productions over the weekend of 13-15th February 2015. These plays told the full story about the police raid; including the build-up, the raid itself and the resulting court trial.
The plays were written by Ric Brady and Stephen M Hornby based the academic research of Jeff Evans. The plays were directed by Helen Parry, Dan Jarvis and Ceris Faulkner.
The Raid
FRIDAY 13TH FEBRUARY
VIA, CANAL STREET
In the first of our series of performances, you will be invited to a reimagining of the fancy dress ball at Via on Canal Street.
Mingle with the fancy dress ball attendees, learn a little about their lives, and watch them sing and dance to Music Hall songs. Manchester’s finest Victorian police officers will rudely interrupt the evening's proceedings.
The Press
SATURDAY 14TH FEBRUARY
MANCHESTER CENTRAL LIBRARY
An intimate performance at Manchester Central Library takes a fresh look at the motives behind the police raid.
Secrets and politics combine to make some men, and ruin others. Detective Caminada courts the press, but can he keep control of the story?
SUNDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 1PM
PEOPLE’S HISTORY MUSEUM
In the concluding part of the series, you will discover what happened to the fancy dress ball attendees.
Original newspaper accounts have been used to dramatise the infamous court trial. Will all the prisoners maintain their vow of silence, or will the threat of prison force someone to speak out?
The Trial
Our Project Patrons
The patrons for A Very Victorian Scandal were: award-winning writer Russell T Davies, writer of Queer As Folk, Doctor Who and Cucumber. And Cyril Nri who featured in The Bill and Cucumber. Pagelight are very gratetful for the support our patrons provided.
Russell T Davies
Cyril Nri
'‘It’s a delight and an honour to support these wonderful shows. Three new gay dramas about Manchester and they’re not mine. Hurrah! You lucky people.’
"I have been involved with Schools Out and LGBT HM for a number of years and am very pleased to support this project. By understanding our past, we better understand our present and can see the way forward to our future. ”
