Where better for it to originate from, then Manchester?

Director, Dan Jarvis, talks about his time working with Pagelight to create "A Very Victorian Scandal':

It's been an honour and a real privilege to work on the AVVS project. Not only for the opportunity and faith to coordinate the music hall installment of the three pieces ('The Raid'), but also to be involved in the creative processes in a project that excavated hidden histories and explored a strong regional heritage of both queer persecution and celebration.

Exploring the clandestine gay balls and social events in Victorian Manchester has really given me a new perspective on Manchester's gay subcultural history - one that far precedes the gay liberation of the 1960s. The project has been a lesson in re-appropriating history and popular culture (as seen in the double meanings and "queering" of traditional music hall songs), and one that I feel for production team and audiences alike opens up a re-evaluation of the importance of gay spaces and communities in an age where such spaces can be taken for granted or eclipsed by market values.

I am incredibly intrigued to see where and how this project continues - particularly how the writers were able to mix both the painstaking historical accuracy, to give authenticity to the piece, along with the artistic license and rewriting of "history" that is so necessary when providing those excluded from mainstream history.

Practically speaking, it was an enormous achievement to be able to pull off such an ambitious and expansive project with such obstacles such as the small time-frame, budget and rehearsal space. However, for a small team, I feel we were able to punch well above our weight and provide LGBT History Month with a story and an immersive experience, which provided so much provocation for thought.

Given proper funding, publicity, development time and a clear purpose - this could become one of the most important queer plays of recent years - and where better for it to originate from, then Manchester.