Oscar-winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney features exclusively on the latest National Theatre podcast. McCraney, who recently came to London to direct a staged reading of his seminal play Wig Out!, gives an extended interview in which he talks frankly about masculinity, race and sexuality.
Appearing in Wig Out!, the second play in the NT’s Queer Theatre series, McCraney joined a cast of twelve to mark 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.
In the fifth in the series of National Theatre podcasts, McCraney discusses the issues affecting men today alongside poet and playwright Inua Ellams, whose play Barber Shop Chronicles recently transferred to West Yorkshire Playhouse, following a sell-out run in the NT’s Dorfman Theatre.
The National Theatre’s recently launched podcast series seeks to use theatre as a mechanism to explore the complex social, economic and cultural issues of our time. Previous episodes have featured interviews with MP Ed Miliband, Dame Harriet Walter and Simon Russell Beale. Each episode tackles topical theatrical issues exploring a diverse range of subjects, including: theatre in prisons, gender, ageing and the purpose of producing political theatre based on current events such as Brexit.
The National’s Queer Theatre season was programmed to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, and featured five rehearsed plays, exhibitions, talks and screenings which chart the LGBTQ+ experience.
Launching the Queer Theatre initiative, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney said: “I feel grateful to be returning to the UK and reading this piece. As we continue better to understand ourselves and how we perform in the world I hope this investigation back into the 'ball scene' will be as exciting as it is important. #Alllove&Allpride.”
To access the podcast, click
here.
