1982 – Latecomer – A Gay Play
In 1982 the Potteries Gay Community Association applied to stage a gay themed play, “Latecomer” by Eric Presland. After a private council debate two thirds of the committee agreed to the play being presented and it was subsequently staged at the Newcastle Guildhall on Nov 9th. The play was to be staged by a small touring theatre company called “Consenting Adults in Public”. The night did not go quite as planned as a leading cast member was unwell on the night and the play could not be staged. However, the audience enjoyed a cabaret performance of songs and sketches instead.
Peter Scott-Presland (formerly Eric Presland) was the author of the play. In recent correspondence with him Peter said “My cabaret pianist at the time was a very young Richard Coles. The local vicar was furious at Council premises being used, and we wrote a song specially for the occasion.” Peter has also very kindly sent the following photos of his touring company from that period which included a very young Richard Coles who performed as the cabaret pianist; he later teamed up with Jimmy Somerville to form the Communards in 1985.
Eric Presland on tour in 1983
Chris Ransome, Richard Coles and Toby Kettle
Chris Ransome on tour in 1983
Toby Kettle, Richard Coles and Chris Ransome
Grateful thanks to Peter Scott Presland and Homo Promos for kind permission to use these photos. Find out more about the “Latecomer” play on hompromos.org, where you can also read the script
Newspaper Articles
The following clip from the Evening Sentinel dated 25th October 1982 describes some of the controversy around the staging of the play. The article sets out the robust response of The Potteries Gay Community Association.
This clip from the Evening Sentinel November 10th 1982 tells us that the play could not be performed due to illness of a lead cast member. The audience were instead treated to a cabaret revue by the touring company.
The Evening Sentinel – Nov 10th 1982
The play had previously been staged in Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The Birmingham Post – 26th Apr 1977
Wolverhampton Express and Star – 17th Mar 1979
Copyright Notice
The newspaper cuttings featured here have been compiled by the posts author, Andrew Colclough, from various archived material as part of his personal research into local LGBT+ history. Copyright belongs to the newspapers that published the articles. The news cuttings have been shared here by this post’s author, Andrew Colclough, on the basis of fair personal/non commercial use.
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