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An uplifting story of queer joy and rebellion.Summary
Rating
Excellent
In a London flat on New Year’s Eve 1989, a group of friends plan the biggest protest of their life – storming the BBC’s party and taking over the radio. Goodbye ‘89 is their uplifting story, celebrating queer joy and friendship, whilst focusing on the difficulties of the community and the reason they have to fight. It finds the perfect combination of heart-warming and heart-breaking.
The set is a cluttered apartment, with enough nick-nacks to capture the zeitgeist of the late 80s, along with a quiet soundtrack of some one hit wonders playing in the background: there is no mistaking which decade we are in. The Christmas tree with bras for ornaments is the perfect camp nod to the fact that this flat is very much inhabited by lesbians. The characters’ outfits also reveal a splendid range of 80’s fashion, from oversized shirts and sweater vests to crimped hair.
The storyline itself takes place in real time, as the friends prepare to access the party in the first place, whilst planning their protest. It begins with panicking about their outfits, wondering why people are late, helping each other with make-up – it’s a scene everyone is familiar with. But there is an overwhelming understanding that this is more than just a party, and as the play continues everyone’s motivations for why they want to protest are revealed.
The atmosphere becomes more sombre, for they are not just a group of friends, they are a found family. They have made sacrifices to be there, lost loved ones through illness or being forced out. Although fictional, it is clear that these are the stories of real people who lived, suffered and survived, and the script honours those narratives. Whilst funny, it’s also an emotional piece that does not negate the historical sacrifices ordinary people made so we can be where we are today.
It’s refreshing to see a female-dominated show set in the 80/90s, especially during the AIDS epidemic. It focuses on the stories of the lesbians and sex workers who fought to gain their rights, donated blood when others couldn’t, but also shunned by society and deemed dirty, or responsible for the disease. The protest feels like a risky and dangerous operation, yet achievable. Their aim is to spread the correct facts and to honour those who have lost their lives, while they recognise the powers that be will never do so, continuing instead to fearmonger and scapegoat. They risk their careers, deportation, and even prison. Yet the optimism of youth creates excitement and hope!
The characters, their quirks, differences and similarities, are ably introduced through careful dialogue and the use of realism, which is successfully embellished through ad libbed moments of high emotion. The performance feels naturalistic and authentic in scenes of excitement or in arguments: for instance, where louder, opinionated characters are fighting, the more caregiving ones protect the younger. At points the contrast between the highs of emotion and the smoothness of more mundane scenes feels jarring, as if the drama comes out of nowhere; from scripted speech. The effect is almost as though a line has been forgotten, before returning to the book. However with a little fine-tuning, this could be minimised.
Goodbye ‘89 is a wonderfully joyous piece that finds the line between sincere, emotional and hilarious. It makes you appreciate how far we’ve come thanks to those who suffered, whilst feeling inspired by their bravery.
Directed and Created By: By the Balls Theatre (Martha Caidan, Alice Berry, Michaella Moore, Ophelia J. Wisdom, Ellen Trevaskiss and Rebecca Fox)
Goodbye ’89 played as part of VAULT Festival 2023 and has completed its current run.
