Review: GRILLS at Camden People’s Theatre
Grills – a term of endearment used as an alternative for “girls” by the lesbian community in 1980’s London. Directed by Chloe Christian, this co-creation with Olivia Dowd takes you on a nostalgic rewind into 80’s Camden and the first, and only, community centre for lesbians and black lesbians.
The Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group, launched in 1982 and 1984 respectively, joined forces in 1987 to create a safe space and place of learning, creativity and activism for queer women in London. Despite countless resource and political setbacks, the CLCBLG became a pioneering dual institution that gave a voice and provided a safe haven for marginalised communities. And during the Thatcher years no less, facing Clause 38 ‘criminalising the promotion of homosexuality’. Sadly, funding and endless anti-queer agendas led to the centre’s closure in 1995 and the archives preserving its memory relocated to Glasgow, disappearing into obscurity. Until now.
The Camden People’s Theatre, in partnership with MIRRORBALL – the theatre company led by Christian and Dowd – present this understated, yet powerful exposé into the stories behind the CLCBLG and its significance in LGBTQIA+ herstory. (HIStory gets enough press).
GRILLS opens up with Vall, a young trans-woman, who travels to Scotland eager to learn about the CLCBLG, where together with the loyal protectors of the archive, Bee, Jaz and Mo, they embark on an eye-opening, empowering and heartbreakingly jarring journey into the heart of the centre’s past, delving into the emotional stories of some of the original members and bring them to life.
Maybe like many people, I had never heard of the CLCBLG or even the Camden People’s Theatre, until I got the invitation to see this new play. Not wanting to spoil anything and experience everything with fresh eyes, I keenly came along not knowing anything besides the basic details and the address. The theatre is small and unassuming, no fancy carpets or antique staircases that usually aggrandise the play-watching experience. Just a buzz of excitement from the eager audience at the bar and a lovely, warm greeting from the organisers. No need to put on airs – you feel at home here. Your ticket is a worn playing card, collected with a smile as we all piled into the dark auditorium.
My very first impression was made the second I walked in. The set, in essence, was barely anything. Just a corkboard and some small filing cabinets. But it’s no exaggeration to say I was instantly transported to the 80’s. The retro flyers pinned up, the corded phone – our time machine for the evening – the colour choices and subtle, but perfectly done lighting – I could practically see the cassette tapes, Joan Jett posters and all the glorious velcro. The mood was deftly set before I even found my seat.
The whole place is small, stuffy and rough around the edges. A struggling New York poet would be very comfortable here. There’s no curtain to be drawn, the modest square footage of stage is at the ready for us all to shut up.
The action jumps between the 80’s and the present day, with clever choreography of the filing cabinets and the ringing of the aforementioned telephone signalling the changes in time. The four actors each play multiple characters, the archivists and the original CLCBLG members, as well as various additional personages, altogether creating a multifaceted experience that brilliantly depicts the original centre, as well as the modern take on its legacy. Several stories are interwoven throughout the narrative, showing the bonds and strife between the leads, as well as the realisations of the present day characters as they follow the lives of the original Grills. You can see the effect of discovering the complexities of the past in each actor’s distinctive performance. Hope, rage, vulnerability, defiance – each time the phone rings, a new layer is added and you can’t help but get swept up in it all, along with the cast.
Reading through the old records, Vall and the others learn that it wasn’t all an inspiring picture of community and collaboration. The CLC and BLG were ultimately individual organisations, with their own agendas and struggles to overcome, which often created rifts and impacted their relationships. And while Vall, and the audience, expect the centre to have been a beacon of progress, sadly the prejudices of the times seeped in even there, with the demonisation of the trans community and lack of support for “constructed females” being a stark contrast to the ethos of the rest of the CLCBLG.
In many ways, the play is a beautiful affirmation of how far we’ve come, as well as a bleak reminder of how much further there’s still to go. For every victory, there’s a torrent of defeat. For every new voice, a chorus of opposition. For all the good it brought to the lesbian community, for all the tireless efforts, the centre ultimately gets shut down. In a heart-wrenching moment, the quartet comes together to emit two, wall-shaking, exasperated “F**K!!!”s. Trust me when I say, every member of the audience felt this visceral cry.
But the play doesn’t leave you with a feeling of despondence. There’s plenty of humour throughout, with an unforgettable “Letter from Marjorie” to her husband which had the audience in stitches. The whole thing is rounded off with a delightful and hilarious musical number that rekindles that feeling of camaraderie and loving persistence that underpins these relationships all along – learning from the past, fighting for the future.
The ensemble: Olivia Dowd, Ishmael Kirby, India Jean-Jacques & Jaye Hudson give a terrific performance, each striking and honest in their own way, while director Chloe Christian seamlessly uses what amounts to just a few short interactions and conversations into a full-bodied deep-dive into the heart of this pioneering institution.
Sparse props, thematic soundtrack and curated news clips keep this production raw and on-point. Watching GRILLS, I found it very reminiscent of For Black Boys, which I’d seen recently at the Garrick. You might think the constraints of a small theatre like the CPT might limit the impact of the production, but were GRILLS to be performed at the West End (which would be awesome!) I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. For Black Boys had nothing more than a chair each and some staircases in the way of props – but that’s all they needed. The minimalism of these productions makes you fully immerse yourself in the stories, which GRILLS achieves without the need for big setpieces or trapdoors. The only drawback of course is that the actors never get a break.
The performance doesn’t have an intermission (not that it needs one) and none of the cast spend any time out of sight of the audience to get a breather. Coupled with the rather airless environment, the only distraction from the show is that it gets close to uncomfortably hot, especially for the toiling performers. However, in some ways, the feeling of stifling constraint mirrors the experiences of the characters.
The transition from then and now wasn’t always clear cut from a choreography perspective, but the actors’ effortless switch from one character to the next never fails to keep you within the flow of the narrative. There were a couple of technical glitches with the audio, but the performers never faltered from the punchy rhythm of the script. An argument could be made that the dialogue could use a little refinement, but its message was there throughout and the interplay between the actors was on beat, the chemistry undeniable. I must confess that a few of the references went over my head – definite moments of IYKYK here and there.
This was a newer iteration of the play from 18 months prior, with a lot of updates made to the script to help modernise the present-day references to be reflective of today’s digital world. With just two weeks of rehearsals, and me watching only the 2nd performance, the cast and crew of GRILLS should be very proud of their achievement. With some well-deserved trips to the local iTSU and Pastation – an…. experience in and of itself.
Christian hopes GRILLS will go on tour and doesn’t rule out further evolution to the production and the narrative. To supplement the play, there will be an interactive exhibition in October, where you’ll be able to see some of the original documents from the archives and get enveloped in full-on 80s nostalgia!
One might think the subject matter of this play is too niche to attract a larger scale audience – but that is precisely why it needs to be told. This story is just one of many. Remember the closure of The Black Cap in 2015, after over 50 years of being an iconic queer venue in Camden? It was an irreplaceable loss – but what it represented went beyond all the red tape and its loyal supporters refused to give up. After almost a decade of tireless effort, it’s going to reopen its doors a rejuvenated LGBTQ+ hub!
Hopefully, the anger and loss felt watching the disintegration of the CLCBLG will galvanise the current and future queer nerds to keep moving forward and create more and more safe, inclusive and ever-evolving spaces for marginalised groups seeking a community – and never forgetting their herstory.
GRILLS headlines this year’s Camden Roar Festival. Check it out at the Camden People’s Theatre: Tue 4 to Sat 22 Jun at 7pm (Saturday matinees 3pm)
