The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival was founded on January 31, 2004 – prompted by a few events. In 1993, just after we had been decriminalised, I staged the Irish premiere of La Cage Aux Folles in the Rupert Guinness Theatre and at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera. Seven gay actors turned down the leading role of Albin/Zaza. We were six weeks into rehearsals when I reluctantly (as I was the director) stepped into the role noone would play. I won the Best Male Performer at WIFLO and as adjudicator Cathal MacCabe said, “This festival will never be the same again!”

We then transferred to the Olympia Theatre, sold out with a standing ovation every night. I was never cast in a role again. Once you played gay – that was it! I later went on to (cast myself in) the role of Oscar Wilde in the centenary of his death in 2000, with Adele King (Twink) as Lady Wilde and Neil Watkins as Bosie in A Chelsea Affair. I studied his story.

By 2003, the tenth anniversary of decriminalisation, I was the Head of Communications with the Equality Authority. I revived La Cage and audiences’ attitudes had shifted – they were now ‘on side’ with the camp character who has raised the son who was now ashamed of him. It was a real change. I completed my Masters in Equality Studies in UCD, studying how inequality is constructed. At a Pride photo exhibition in the Front Lounge, I noticed everyone was still wearing masks. We were ten years ‘free’. We needed to show our lives to mainstream society to be really free, so I re-directed my own theatrical career to establish the Gay Theatre Festival.

I drew a calendar line between LAF (Lesbian Arts Festival) and Pride and found the May Bank Holiday time free. I asked a London friend to send a play to join the ten other Irish companies recruited, so we could be ‘international’. The festival opened with no support, except a handful of volunteers, including Eddie Devoy (Dolly Grip). We survived financially and within two years, 66 percent of our programme was international and we were three times bigger.

The festival tells LGBT+ stories in the mainstream. We are in an intercultural dialogue with society. We specialise in new writing. We are the biggest event of its kind worldwide. We run two separate weeks of theatre every year beginning May Bank Holiday Monday and all are welcome.

Find out more about the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival at www.gaytheatre.ie