“So I said to her-”
“What time does Heaven close?”
“Do you think I should leave him?”
“I need to know if I’m sick.”
In 1974, the London Gay Switchboard opens above Housmans Bookshop in Kings Cross. It won’t be renamed the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard until 1986. The phones never stop ringing.
Join four lesbians on their shift, late into the night, as they lend a listening ear to the secrets, problems, and joys of their callers... all whilst arguing over who finished the coffee.
Devised and written during Switchboard’s 50th anniversary year, ‘The Switchboard Project’ brings these long-forgotten, extraordinary stories and pivotal cultural moments out of the archive and onto the stage for contemporary audiences to experience for the first time. It celebrates the important role lesbians played in gay liberation, the AIDS crisis, and building the queer community as we know it today, using true stories uncovered in London’s queer archives and brought together during a lengthy collaborative process.
Supported by Wilton’s Music Hall. With thanks to London Performance Studios.
Tobi King Bakare and this theatre deserve a shout-out for such a young, diverse audience. There is so much talk about audiences being full of over 60s and why, why can’t theatres get the crowds in to reflect society in general? Well, I’m happy to say that on a rainy Thursday evening, the theatre was completely full.
Caiti Grove on Before I Go in CPT's Spring 2023 season London Theatre Reviews
