A Boarding School Homo - Fringe Fundraiser!

by An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo in Manchester, England, United Kingdom

We did it
On 31st July 2024 we successfully raised £2,062 with 45 supporters in 58 days

An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer, have a read below and donate if you can.

by An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo in Manchester, England, United Kingdom

An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo is a new play written by Ned Blackburn. The play follows the life of Johnny, an eighteen-year-old pupil of a remote all-boys boarding school. He ambles through daily school life, as a flaming homosexual and fails miserably at fitting into the schools (rather rigid) mould. He day-dreams of being a gay tragedy - but he even fails at that. Enter Harry, a confident, charming, rugby lad. To save time, trepidation and a tired queer baiting narrative, Johnny and Harry shag all the time. 

Formed in the Manchester Student Theatre Scene, Choir Boys & Co. is made up of Meg Bowron and Josh Stainer (Co-directors), Lizzie Hawke (Producer), Will Walford and Ned Blackburn (performers). We have previously worked on the sold out show Bad Traffic at Manchester's Contact Theatre - winning 2 Manchester Fringe Awards - and The Manchester Revue's Lonely Heart's Sketch Club which had a sold out run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe - labelled 'Brilliantly Funny' in its 5-star review. In addition, through the University of Manchester Drama Society we have produced the Manchester In Fringe Theatre Awards (MIFTA's). 

The play is not a coming out story, it is not a gay tragedy, and it is not porn. It is life through the lens of a queer young man, navigating masculinity, Grindr and institution that is rife with shame. Considering the themes the team want the show to be accessible to as wide an audience as possible, hence the Edinburgh Fringe is the perfect stage to share it. The show is for those who had the privilege of going to a school like Johnny's or those intrigued as to what life is like at somewhere most don't get the chance to see. The play is centred around a gay relationship, allowing queer and non-queer audience members to reflect at their time at school and how they had to navigate their identity with the school environment. The show also hopes to reach younger LGBTQ+ audience members, who hope to see themselves reflected on stage. 

The funds raised will help support the show get to the fringe. Funding a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an expensive task; venue costs, advertising, accommodation, props and insurance rack up costs quite quickly. We hope to raise enough to cover the shows cost. This includes the venue, we are very lucky to be performing with Just the Tonic, and advertising, reaching the widest amount of people allows us to gain the biggest audience possible. We understand it is a lot of money to raise, however every little helps and any amount contributed (however big or small) allows us to have the opportunity to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The team is so excited to head up North come the start of August, and if you are in Edinburgh at any point from 1st-11th we would love for you to come and see the show. Thank you for taking time to read about our play and any contributions are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions about our show, the Fringe or this fundraiser please email [email protected] 

Choir Boys & co. debut An Adequate Abridgement of Boarding School Life as a Homo at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from the 1st-11th August, at Just the Tonic's The Caves in The Fancy Room.

Tickets can be found at https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/adequate-abridgement-of-boarding-school-life-as-a-homo 

Our trailer can be viewed at https://youtu.be/uxTsNNnpgUY

Our Instagram is @boardingschoolhomo

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