A new documentary musical about pride and resistance is coming to Liverpool Playhouse Theatre

After the Act is a new documentary musical that examines the long shadow of Section 28, the UK legislation that prohibited the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools.

Following its record-breaking, sold-out run in London and a critically acclaimed transfer to Edinburgh, After the Act will take to the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse from Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 October.

After the Act takes the audience from the adolescent anguish of the classroom to the heated debates of Parliament, via euphoric celebrations and impassioned street demonstrations. With (almost) every word in the show is taken from interviews with students, activists, and teachers, as well as tabloid articles and news clips of the era. A banging soundtrack by Composer and Orchestrator Frew, performed live, conjures the beating heart of the 1980s.

Liverpool Playhouse — Credit: Alex Brenner

Created to mark 35 years since it was voted into law by Thatcher’s Conservative government and 20 years since its repeal, award-winning theatre makers Breach Theatre’s new musical gives voice to those who grew up under the Act.

Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett, writers of After the Act said:

“As part of the generation that grew up under Section 28, this is a story that’s hugely personal to us as well as political. The moral panic of the 1980’s over LGBT-inclusive education had an enormous impact on our coming of age and sense of ourselves as young queer people in the 90’s and noughties. It’s been fascinating and a real privilege to speak to so many LGBT people of a slightly older generation who remember the fight for and against section 28, and to people of all ages on its impact on them.

“Unfortunately, since creating this show, their stories feel more relevant and urgent than ever. We hope that by telling them, anyone who comes to see After the Act will be inspired to continue the fight for LGBT+ rights and representation.”

The cast includes award-winning writer Ellice Stevens. Her co-writing for Breach Theatre has been awarded two Scotsman Fringe Firsts (TANK and It’s True, It’s True, It’s True), and she was part of the ensemble that won The Stage Edinburgh Award for Acting (It’s True, It’s True, It’s True). Also in the cast are Composer and Musical Director Frew (Chariots of Fire, Steel, Sheffield Theatres; Seagulls, Bolton Octagon), along with Ericka Posadas (Your Lie In April, London Harold Pinter Theatre; Sleeping Beauty, Theatre Royal Stratford East), Nkara Stephenson (Pippin Concert, Drury Lane; Heartstopper Season 3), and Zachary Willis, whose performance in After The Act at the Diorama Theatre has been nominated as part of the Best Ensemble Cast category for the 2024 Offies Awards.

Breach is an award-winning theatre company whose previous work includes It’s True, It’s True, It’s True which toured widely and was filmed for the BBC.

After the Act combines forensic research with playfulness and politics and is coming to Liverpool Playhouse from Thursday 24 October to Saturday 26 October.