AFTER THE ACT

Royal Court

★★

“it remains an interesting and worthwhile history lesson”

Jenny lives with Eric and Martin was just another children’s book in 1988. It wasn’t new and wasn’t even originally British, as it had first been published in Copenhagen in 1982. So how did this book become the starting point of a campaign, which ultimately led to the inclusion of Section 28 within the Local Government Act of 1988? After the Act is an entertaining musical, which tells the story of Section 28 through the eyes of those most closely affected.

‘Section 28’ refers to a specific clause with the Local Government Act of 1988, which prohibited schools from ‘promoting’ homosexuality, the wording of which was ambiguous enough that it resulted in the restriction of teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality, particularly concerning family relationships.

It is a strange era to look back on. Views that would be considered to be politically extreme nowadays were front and centre and were actually winning the argument. An imaginary enemy had been conjured up, largely driven by ignorance and misunderstanding. After the Act explores this period of recent history from multiple vital perspectives: teachers who could not speak up for risk of jeopardising their careers, students for whom bullying and discrimination had become a part of their everyday existence and the activists who fought hard to educate people and bring about real change.

The play splits fairly evenly into two halves. In the first act, we see the build-up to the passing of the Act in 1988. The tone is set clearly early in the play. People’s concerns about gay people are not challenged, whereas protestors are dismissed as mad rabble-rousers. Two scenes stand out in the first act. The first is where protestors have made it on the news at 6 on the BBC but are being silenced (fitting for the time) to not disrupt the broadcast. The second is the re-enactment of protestors abseiling into the House of Lords following the passing of the bill. These scenes are excellently written (Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens) paying tribute to the real-life activists involved.

The second act covers the aftermath to the passing of the Act before it was eventually repealed in 2003, detailing the experiences of people who had to live through this time period and how it affected them well beyond the law had been changed. This should be the point where it all comes together. However, the biggest issue is the contradiction between its comedic elements and the hard-hitting truths that it wishes to divulge. The tone of most of the first act is strangely uplifting and funny, which is maintained through to the start of the second act, when one of the performers enters the stage dressed as Margaret Thatcher and sings as the former Prime Minister.

The individual elements of the play are interesting and well-performed, and all of the cast display an impressive range as they move from character to character bringing to life more people’s stories from this period. However, these parts often work against each other without a clear link to the central narrative, rather appearing more like a slide show of different characters.

Keyboard and drums add a lively accompaniment to the performances on stage. Sadly, the backing music and use of songs is often overdone and is too much of an ‘ever-present’ during the show rather peaking for significant moments, which does make it a little tiring, giving the show an impression of ‘more bark than bite’. Overall, despite its flaws as a production, it remains an interesting and worthwhile history lesson, which deserves to be taught.

AFTER THE ACT

Royal Court

Reviewed on 27th May 2025

by Luke Goscomb

Photography by Alex Brenner

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

MANHUNT | ★★★★ | April 2025

A GOOD HOUSE | ★★★★ | January 2025

THE BOUNDS | ★★★ | June 2024

LIE LOW | ★★★★ | May 2024

BLUETS | ★★★ | May 2024

GUNTER | ★★★★ | April 2024

COWBOIS | ★★★★★ | January 2024

MATES IN CHELSEA | ★★★ | November 2023

CUCKOO | ★★½ | July 2023

BLACK SUPERHERO | ★★★★ | March 2023

AFTER THE ACT

★★★★

“achieves something incredibly rare by being so frank about something so taboo”

“It’s weird that we don’t talk about it,” Olive tells us. She is referring to death and society’s taboo towards it. Olive is writing an article about this very subject and is looking for volunteers who are terminally ill to speak about their experiences. Without reservation, she does not consider this unusual and starts handing out her business card to patients gathered in a palliative care ward. However, this ambition takes a completely different spotlight when she, herself, is diagnosed with the rare illness primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). What unfolds is that Olive cannot deal with the prospect of her own death at all, as she embarks on a self-destructive path, which could ruin her life before its potential premature end.

Outpatient is an astonishing one-hander conceived, written, and performed by Harriet Madeley (Olive Johnson in the play), centred on her own experience of being diagnosed with a potentially life-limiting condition. It is a remarkable performance, which provides so much deep insight into such a serious, brutal subject matter, whilst being uplifting and funny. Irony is regularly deployed throughout the piece, a particularly good example of which is Olive, her fiancé and mother going to the cinema to watch a Norwegian film about suicide, just after receiving the news. It is not morbid and solemn about the inevitability of what awaits but rather insists that we enjoy the time before then.

Whilst only having a single performer, the play features numerous characters via pre-recorded material. These stretch to Olive’s parents, her fiancé, wider family, and doctors that she meets, and provide necessary grounding to her situation within her inner circle. This element of the play works well for the most part but is, at times, over-used because we want to hear more of Olive’s internal dialogue.

We learn of the different reactions to the news from different people. There are those that try too hard to be nice but end up overbearing. There are those that think that they can fix things themselves and then there are those that just pity. Clearly, nobody knows exactly the right way to respond. Of most interest, is Olive’s own response. While everyone else is trying to confront the problem, Olive is trying to run from it, in the hope that she can run faster than it. It is quite befitting that so much of the story is narrated by Olive whilst running on a treadmill. The direction (Madelaine Moore) is pin-point, and it needs to be, given the minimalism of the set design, which helps to project the performance rather than hold it back. The lighting (Megan Lucas) is also a prominent feature of the show, the projection of an x-ray reminding us of the authentic meaning of the show despite the comedic light relief.

Through telling this story (an adaptation of Harriet’s own story), Harriet appears to want to tell us two things. Firstly, that even in light of terrible news, one’s actions can have a damaging impact on those closest to them. Moreover, though, is that even if one thinks they have nothing to lose, this is never truly the case, that there is always something worth protecting and working towards. Outpatient achieves something incredibly rare by being so frank about something so taboo, whilst somehow raising your spirits.

AFTER THE ACT

Royal Court

★★

“it remains an interesting and worthwhile history lesson”

AFTER THE ACT

Royal Court

Reviewed on 27th May 2025

by Luke Goscomb

Photography by Alex Brenner

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

AFTER THE ACT

AFTER THE ACT

AFTER THE ACT

OUTPATIENT

Park Theatre

★★★★

“achieves something incredibly rare by being so frank about something so taboo”

OUTPATIENT

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 22nd May 2025

by Luke Goscomb

Photography by Abi Mowbray

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

OUTPATIENT

OUTPATIENT

OUTPATIENT

JOIN US