Pride: the musical - Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, 11/4/26.
If you were unaware, the iconic film 'Pride' (2014) has been adapted for the stage, I was lucky enough to see it in previews and it was such a heartfelt, soulful, honest piece. I cannot overstate how incredible it was. Here's my run down of everything I can remember (spoilers!! Also I won't describe the whole plot, only cool things or differences)
The story is told from the perspective of the real surviving members of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM): Mike, Gethin, Jonathan, Reggie and Steph with Mike mostly guiding the story. From the start, they make it clear that this is a true story and they set the tone and context of the show perfectly
The show begins with a tongue in cheek song where the audience are given a 'gay induction', explaining what it was like to be queer in the 1980s, there are police hats and mini roleplays and its funny whilst still giving context to those who need it
Following this song, they start to talk about Mark Ashton and he enters the stage, moving in his own space and obeying the 4th wall in a way the others aren't. There is a brief introduction and it's made clear that Mark is somehow special in all this
Sidenote: the staging is super cool in this show, its simplistic and prop-heavy, Mark's 'council flat balcony' is a metal barrier that will be used for the picket line later in the show.
The show sometimes borrows dialogue and scene sequences from the film and Mark's introduction is one of those times, which makes sense as the show was developed by the film's director. I think they were more reserved than they could have been with this, it makes for a fun reference and you keep the quotable lines such as 'they're sending a police man!' - 'oh I do hope so!'
Mark's date tries to chase after him wearing only a sheet and shouting 'you're still wearing my pants!!'
Cut to pride and the storytellers enter the story fully, we get the classic Mike on his own and 'give it to the lesbians they love a banner' + introduction of Bromley (Joe)
Somewhere in all this there is a cool song about how 'queers are the canaries in the coal mine' - a rock-ish number about how bad things always seem to happen to us first before everything else goes to shit. If I remember right, this is merged with scenes of London pride and the ensemble sings about how it's a protest not a party
Bromley has a little motif throughout the show where he's singing the things he wishes he could say to his mum, immediately followed by what he actually says. It's sweet and kinda funny
Ooh yeah and when the pride protesters are chanting they are actively staring and pointing at the audience
We have the party after pride and people gradually leave, one of these people is Cliff's actor dressed in very youthful gay clothes its brilliant
Steph describes Jonathan and Gethin as 'being together since the middle ages' and says Jonathan was in 'Colditz' (not mentioning the acting bit). Joe fully believes her and responds 'he doesn't seem old enough'
Somewhere around here, they introduce the bookshop and Reggie complains that he doesn't think 'gay's the word' is a good name and he doesn't get the reference. Jonathan says 'I'm sorry to do this Mike,' and interrupts the show, stepping through the 4th wall and starting a rant about this is what's wrong with young gays nowadays
Anyway they agree to help in a scene much like the film's, Mark sparks a song about solidarity to convince everyone ('solidarityyyy, its solidarityyyy, he [something, works? Hurts?] the same as meee')
Split scene where everybody is collecting money outside the shop while Mike and Mark try calling mine unions
There are also several allusions to Jonathan's health through act one and its slightly heart wrenching
'He's supposed to be taking it easy!' 'I'm literally shaking a bucket'
They finally get through to Onllwyn and Gwen's shuffle across the stage was drawn out for the perfect amount of time to raucous laughter
Side note #2: this audience man, I'm pretty sure everyone there was either gay or Welsh and you could feel it in the room, they were so responsive, so so into it, it gave such a warm, community feel to the show and I'm sure the actors fed on it
Again, my memory is not the best but somewhere around here we get a little intro song to Onllwyn, they sing about life and death in the valley how a man's resolve is as strong as stone. Hefina proudly sings about how she looks after her community, citing how she made sure a family got food, and how another time she punched a lady's unfaithful husband in an asda car park
They skip Dai coming down to London and the bus ride to Dulais takes place on a bunch of chairs with Jonathan holding a steering wheel, gcse drama at its finest but it works
The other lesbians are broadly cut from the show but dw we still get Steph belting 'every woman is a lesbian' and some of the audience were joining in
During Mark's speech to the miners his 1/5 people are gay bit is tacked on the end by Jonathan, who is quickly told to shut up. Before hand he had reassured Mark he would step in if he choked
Maureen's actress has an uncanny likeness to her film counterpart, I swear her voice is identical
We have the miners and the gays on separate sides of the hall, and Reggie starts to suggest maybe they should 'tone it down a bit'
Jonathan's speech that follows is slightly epic, he starts to describe all sorts of outlandish things he would do 'put a baby grand piano in the bookshop... sing my life story' and shouts that he would do all that but he will never Tone. It. Down. I may not remember the whole message, but I will carry the sentiment for a long time
The disco scene is, of course, its own song with 'I miss disco' being the repeated idea, Jonathan dances and eventually Reggie joins in, soon everyone is up and grooving in a mass dance dumber that references 'D.I.S.C.O' by Ottawan
Siân has a little moment and a song to herself in the night where she sings about her 'little infidelity' aka her dream to be more than a wife and a mum, its beautiful and there must have a been a friend in the audience because this one lady went crazy wooping afterwards lmao
They return home all happy and Bromley has a few more things he wishes he could say to his mum. His parents greet him and his dad calls down that 'squirting cream on things is no job for a man'
When they get back to the bookshop, Gethin is very stressed as his stock has been seized - a real event not mentioned in the film. He stalks down to the police station with Jonathan rushing after him. I'm sure there was another allusion to Jonathan's health around here but I can't quite remember
More fundraising and a bit of a time skip and I believe there's a scene of the miners at the picket, they bring out flaming barrels and paper snow rains from the ceiling
LGSM are stopped by police on their way to Onllwyn and warned against going, kudos to the two ensemble who play the police officers bc they were bouncing around playing everyone I swear
and they're back in Onllwyn, we have the bingo scene followed by Mark's rousing speech
Bread and roses is one of my favourite parts of the show and one of the bits that made me cry. Beforehand, the group is having another little tiff bc Dai just told them people are worried about the public image, there's thoughts that maybe they should back off or not be so visible. The women of Dulais seem to sing to the group, who are on the opposite side of the stage to Mark, and one by one, they cross over to hug and join him. Bread and roses becomes mixed with another song with a solidarity theme which is sung by LGSM and its so, so beautiful
Mixed into it is a scene of Maureen calling the press. What a bitch, right?
Side note #3: everyone in this show is so damn tactile, there is always one person hanging off another or holding hands its v cute
END OF ACT 1
Act 2 begins with Jonathan coming out on stage in a dressing gown, a headwrap and slippers and holding a water bottle. he starts to apologise - at this point I really thought something had gone wrong and they were cancelling the show
Nope he's in character and apologising about how he acted towards Reggie, he starts to tell the story of his HIV diagnosis and how he was given the number L-1 (London 1) and an unknown amount of time to live (all true)
Makes a couple of jokes about it
'How long do I have? - Don't buy green bananas' (laughter) 'thank you I'm here all week... Or am I?'
Tells about how he nearly slit his wrists but he was a good Jewish boy who couldn't stand a mess (this got more laughter than I expected tbh)
Then jokes about singing his life story
'No I couldn't' (does it anyway)
What follows is a vaudeville style number of Jonathan describing how he nearly killed himself but then decided he might as well live. The other LGSM members are in sequined leotards with feather fans and Jonathan strips his dressing gown to reveal a sparkly costume, blonde bob wig and tap shoes
Ofc there's a tap number. I didn't know Samuel Barnett could dance lol
Mike comes out at the end of the song with his clip board looking very confused and concerned and promptly shuts it all down, directing our attention back to the picket line, where the miners have discovered the 'perverts support the pits' paper. There is a song where they talk about how they've been called 'the enemy within' which I enjoyed greatly
After a short scene we cut back to the bookshop where they get the message in a more violent way - cue pyro, there is literally a firecracker on stage. Everyone just screams until Steph puts it out with a fire extiguisher and says 'why are lesbians the only ones who know how to do shit'
The 'you take it and own it' speech is approved by Gethin, not Jonathan
Mark gets the pits and perverts idea and everyone is mostly just mad at him for not helping clean
'What do gays do best?' 'Bitch'
Song and montage of everything getting ready for pits and perverts, Mark and Mike go to the record label
'Elton John is happily married, to a woman!! And I hardly think George Michael is gay - he's greek!'
The Dulais ladies arrive and have a moment with Gethin - Gwen says a long sentence to him in Welsh that I really wish I could understand
Gethin and Mike pass out posters for the concert, Gethin is getting very into it and ends up just chucking them into the audience, Mike is somewhat more controlled
The song ends with the cast throwing T-shirts into the audience and the band come on stage for a minute, I'm thinking it may have been the actual show band who have been on a platform above the stage until now but this is unconfirmed
Joe snogs a guy to much applause and wold whistles
Mark dubs Mike 'the keeper of the flame' and tells him its his job to carry the story and the message of the group
The Dulais ladies get their night out and a song to go with it - for some reason it sticks in my head more than the other songs
'We're on a mission ladies, a bloody good night out!'
There is confusion about the proper term for rimming and Gwen learns she is into rubber
Mark bumps into his ex and the story-tellers come forward once more - Mike tries to rush past it but the others, especially Steph insist on a few minutes 'for them'
What follows is a tribute to the AIDS crisis, an explanation of how it developed, how people were treated, the blood sisters get a mention, and everybody holds candles in a vigil while Steph leads a song - 'a light perpetual'
During the song the ensemble come on stage and they are occasionally interrupted by a nurse calling out names. One by one, the ensemble blow their candles out and move off stage
Mark arrives and sits on a chair on stage but leaves before his name is called, when it is called and he's not there, the nurse swiftly moves on to the next person, who blows out his candle and leaves the stage
Again, Mark moves in his own space here, he is a part of the story, but not a part of telling it
So many people were crying during this scene, it hit very deeply
We move on to the bus returning to Onllwyn to see the failed meeting, we get a brief scene of Cliff and Martin trying to defend LGSM but shouts and heckles seem to overwhelm the situation
Everybody gets a bit heated after that, and Mike and Mark get into a shouting match - Mike referencing that he was supposed to keep the flame. Mark responds by shoving Mike so hard he literally slides scross the stage, everyone scrambles to keep them apart before Mark stalks off
This is followed by a song where Dai, Siân, Cliff, and eventually Mark (I think) sing about what they would tell their younger selves, Dai would tell himself to calm down, Siân wants to save some life for herself, Cliff would tell himself not to be afraid.
Hefina drives the LGSM donated bus (again, couple of boxes and a steering wheel) and says her iconic lez off line
The story-tellers come together once more to explain how this story doesn't have a happy ending, the strike failed and the miners went back to work
Bromley, who's been absent for a little bit comes on stage and explains where he's been, he has a song recreating how he was found out and came out to his family ('I'm into blokes, mum, I'm into guys) the whole thing is slightly silly and unserious and the story-tellers listen joyfully and sing along in the background. Eventually, the song transforms into a vessel for telling Gethin's story and he joins in singing, he has a quick aside where he meets his mum again and they share a tearful hug before the climax of the song. Joe has found a leather jacket very similar to Mark's and he puts it on, a symbol of him finding his place amoungst them
We timeskip after that, to the pride immediately after the strike, Mark comes down through the audience with his megaphone and is forgiven and Joe gives everyone some sass
'For the record, my name is Joe' 'yes it's very important you're always called by your proper name, Bromley'
Everyone is, of course, joined by the miners and 'where are my lesbians' is of course featured
As they all march, Mike - 'keeper of the flame' - with his clipboard explains what happens next, he's joined by everyone at the front of the stage one by one, we learn what happened to them
Dai tells Siân that she now has a degree
'Fuck off'
And that she became an MP
'Bugger me!'
They tell of how the miner's union helped bring gay rights onto the manifesto, and debate how they will be remembered. Siân says she bets the people of Dulais will remember, and someone in the audience (presumably from Dulais) whooped really loud followed applause.
Mike tells everyone how 30 years later, they are asked to be in the pride march again
Jonathan remarks that 30 years is a long time in the future and curls into Gethin with the most heartwrenching relief when Mike confirms he's still alive (true)
Reggie asks if he's still the pin-up of Dulais valley - 'no you're 56' 'fuck!'
And Mark, breaking the 4th wall for the 1st time states 'I'm not there, am I?'
Mike confirms that he's not there and Mark immediately asks when he dies. Nobody wants to say, but eventually the date is given
'Is that it? How old?'
When Mike eventually says 26, Mark stammers in disbelief for a little while, Dai explains how his funeral was well attended and that they laid a red flag over his coffin. Mark then retreats back into the story, saying 'come on we've got a march to do' and carries on with the show as if nothing has happened.
The show ends with a song about, of course, pride with nobody saying the actual word until right at the end, when everyone sings 'is there a better word?'
Mark has a solo then eventually sings 'pride' and everybody echos.
And the show ends with Mark (real Mark)'s picture on a banner and everyone (pretty sure cast included) in tears. An absolute masterpiece and the most soulful, honest, expressive show I think I've ever seen.
