“You know, it’s terrible that a woman should have to sit there and say ‘Gay Switchboard’. Why isn’t it ‘Lesbian and Gay Switchboard’?”

 

It’s 1985. Above a bookshop in King’s Cross, volunteers answer calls from across the country. There's been a vicious queer-bashing in Leeds, a young man in Bristol dreads his HIV test, and a breathless voice really wants to know what they're wearing.

 

For Lou, Joan, Nana and Jackie, it’s just another shift. Battling phone line outages, understaffing, and vanishing pens, these four lesbians are determined to answer the call to connect their divided community.

 

‘The Switchboard Project’ is a new dramatic comedy that brings often-ignored stories out of the archive and onto the stage. Inspired by real phone calls and interviews with ex-Switchboard volunteers, this play celebrates the important role lesbians have played in gay liberation, battling the AIDS crisis, and building the queer community as we know it today. 

 

Previous praise for ‘The Switchboard Project’ includes:

 

"The piece is alive, questioning and resonant [...] a highly polished one-hour production that goes by in an instant" (★ ★ ★ ★ ★, Theatre & Tonic)

You can find out more about Doubletake here.

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With thanks to:

Our R&D/WIP cast (Chakira Alin, Anna Georgina and Naphysa Awuah), Lisa Power, Marguerite McLaughlin, Femi Otitoju, Stoney Parsons, Sali Walker, Tash Walker, Bob Hughes at Switchboard, Janet Taylor, Terrence Higgins Trust, Bishopsgate Archives Library Team 

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Running time:​ Approximately 90 minutes

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UNDER 18s ARE NOT PERMITTED INTO THE THEATRE FOR THIS PERFORMANCE. 

Latecomers may not be admitted. 
Refunds and exchanges are not available.