Radical Rediscovery: Homosexual Acts and Beyond

Marking the 50^th anniversary of Homosexual Acts, the first official Gay theatre season in Britain which took place in 1975 at London’s Almost-Free Theatre, Radical Rediscovery: Homosexual Acts & Beyond, a new exhibition curated by Dr Susan Croft is set to interrogate and celebrate Lesbian and Gay theatre’s early years via an array of posters, flyers, photos, magazines, props, set models, costumes, books, original footage and interviews with key participants. 

The exhibition will explore the growth of the movement both in London and elsewhere, from highlighting the Gay Liberation Front activists who created street theatre to Gay Sweatshop touring plays that changed lives of audiences in isolated communities. As well, the exhibition celebrates the radical drag of Bloolips and the lesbian camp of Hard Corps and Parker & Klein and the advent of Black Lesbian, Gay and Queer work in the late 1980s. 

Radical Rediscovery: Homosexual Acts & Beyond takes a deep dive into work that grew from these early beginnings, the arguments and influences, the companies and characters as well as the struggle against censorship with the passing of Clause 28 and the impact of HIV AIDS on and in the theatre.

In 2024, London Performance Studios presented Radical Rediscovery: Feminist theatre in Britain 1969-1992. Once again this exhibition is curated by London Performance Studios Associate Artist Dr Susan Croft, whose ongoing archive project Unfinished Histories is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the history of alternative theatre in Britain from the 1960s to the early 90s.

As well as an exhibition symposium on Friday November 7 and Saturday November 8, London Performance Studios and Unfinished Histories will be announcing a programme of staged readings and informal pop-up talks taking place over the course of the run. 

Fri 7 November – Sun 14 December 2025
Thu to Sun / 12-5pm Free Admission

Venue details