As artistic Director at Grin Theatre, Kiefer Williams has an enormous responsibility in pushing the work of young writers onto the stage. Alongside Simon James, Kiefer is responsible for bringing the fantastic Queertet to the stage, a set of four plays that deal with LGBT issues in today’s modern world. The two men are certainly proud of their work and the experiences they bring to the city of Liverpool and the work they do is certainly valued as the city gears up in preparation for the Liverpool Pride 2013.
Over a pot of tea at FACT I catch up with this witty, charming man and after what seems an age without talking about his work, a diverted conversation in which the subjects of Wonder Woman, poetry and his love of the Horror genre took centre stage, I attempt to get to the heart of this institution.
Good Morning Kiefer, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk about Grin Theatre’s latest event. Queertet 2013 starts this Thursday at the Lantern Theatre, How important do you think Queertet is to the Liverpool Pride weekend and its community?
Kiefer: “I think it’s really important, it’s a source, it’s a gateway to the actual Pride celebrations and when we started this last year, we didn’t have any expectations, we just thought why don’t we put on a quartet of plays with a theme dealing with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender scene and thought it would be ideal to kick-start off Liverpool Pride with it. It was just phenomenal last year, it really took off, Pride were over the moon, we were over the moon and we had full houses, so we decided to make it an annual event. It was just really good for Grin Theatre and for Liverpool Pride.”
There were some exceptional pieces in Queertet last year, some very good stuff. You have Eddie Fortune as Compere this year. A great friend to Grin Theatre.
Kiefer: “Absolutely, absolutely. He certainly is. He has worked with Grin before in the play Tongues where he was phenomenal as the demonic Mark and we feel fortunate to have him with us again as the Compere this time round with his rather risqué humour and naughtier side.”
He does have a wonderful naughty side doesn’t he!
Kiefer: “Oh yes (laughs), he is going to be introducing each play and he will be great. I am looking forward to working with him again. He is very excited, he is going to be dressed as Batman, he is going to have Hetty the Hoover with him and he is even going to end with a song which I can’t divulge yet, it is top secret and will be dressed in a rather strange way. All the photos will be up.”
The fact that Queertet is being held once again in The Lantern Theatre speaks volumes about the trust between the two organisations.
Kiefer: “Certainly, Margaret and Siobhan have been fully on board and really supportive. They are there for us and we are there for them. The actual space at the Lantern is ideal for this type of entertainment. It’s intimate without being too small, it is a great place to show off new plays and we have four cracking plays and our very first musical, which I wrote and I am very pleased with (laughs), I didn’t write the actual music and lyrics (laughs), it’s very Glee, it’s very uplifting.”
There seems to be, and quite rightly so, an abundance of plays that deal with the gay, lesbian and bisexual community but rarely does a theatre company put on something that deals with the transgender community and About the Boy seems to be that play for you.
Kiefer: Yes, well we thought we wanted to approach each aspect of the LGBT community and wanted to be all inclusive with all gender and sexual beliefs and we thought it would really be good to have a play that looked at cross dressing from a women’s point of view, from a lesbian’s point of view and the writer Helen Kerr did a lot of research into it and found a goldmine by talking to different people and up until then hadn’t realised that Drag-Kings existed, we are so used to seeing Drag-Queens but no much women dressing up as men. It is something that is not talked about so much, we hear about the likes of Paul O’Grady, the Danny La Rue’s, but you don’t really see a woman doing that, such as an Honor Blackman or Joanna Lumley, I think they would look great in drag (laughs).
About The Boy is essentially a love story and its core it has a charming approach to life and love and with a very quirky ending and I think all the plays have got quirky upbeat themes. We didn’t want it to be miserable and full of angst, getting worried or stressed or have people say oh that was very good but it was so tragic. Being gay isn’t about being tragic, being gay is a celebration, it’s about having a laugh, it’s about having a giggle and sometimes we may offend people with the play because the language is shall we say coloured raspberry and of course we have our token male nudity, you have got to have that. No female nudity this year but who knows maybe next year so we want to make it a celebration and I think that’s what Queertet is all about. Pride as said are really over the moon about it, they have been very supportive.
As we have said this is the second year that Queertet has been on, do you see it going hand in hand with Liverpool Pride for the foreseeable future?
Kiefer: “I definitely think so, it’s certainly on next year and as long as Liverpool Pride are happy with that then we are so yes we should carry on with it.
For more information on this year’s Queertet events at the Lantern Theatre go to Grinproductions.com. Tickets for Queertet 2013 are available from The Lantern Theatre Box office on 0151 7030000 or online at www.thelanterntheatre.co.uk. Tickets are priced at £8.50 with concessions available at £6.50.
Ian D. Hall