Hannah Hauer-King and Izzy Tennyson on why lesbian stories have gone untold on stage for so long

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When it comes to LGBTQ theatre, the presence of the L feels a little different to the G. To be frank, it feels virtually non-existent.

On screen, queer women still suffer from the Dead Lesbian Syndrome trope, a bizarre phenomenon in which the majority of queer female characters seem to have untimely (and often pretty nasty) deaths. And yet, there’s still a dedicated effort to make gay female stories visible, albeit arguably seen from the perspective of a male point of view.

In theatre, aside from a trickle of pieces admirably on in fringe theatres, and the rare sighting of a lesbian couple on bigger stages, it’s a different picture. Productions about queer men are increasingly (and wonderfully!) thriving, with the success of The Inheritance, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Angels in America to name but a few. But whilst there will be a queer sigh of relief when a musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home opens at the Young Vic, we’re still yet to see a play that puts lesbian stories as its focus in the West End or other major theatres.

Why do lesbians remain largely invisible in theatre? The present state of London’s lesbian nightlife and other cultural offerings provides some clues. Venues such as G-A-Y and Heaven are thriving, but even in Soho spaces for gay women are minimal or disappearing (Candy Bar’s closure is one of many disappointing recent examples). We seem to stoically accept that lesbians will never be provided with the same quality or number of spaces as gay men, and this imbalance is reflected again in theatre. Like our nightclubs, lesbian stories are hidden in the basements; they pulse, unheard and unseen.

This is why our play, Grotty, is deeply concerned with the relative invisibility of lesbians on the gay scene. The play’s protagonist, sexually adventurous Rigby, finds herself abruptly part of this disconcerting scene. It’s a place where she falls into compromising situations alongside a small group of dysfunctional women, where self-medication results in bad decisions. The behavior of the women is shocking, at times borderline grotesque; they bear the wounds of being demoted to the margins.

The socially acceptable ‘nice gay’ is something lesbians have never culturally mastered. Perhaps this has lessened our appeal for commercial theatre and its audiences; we're yet to hear of a ‘fun lesbian’ motif. But perhaps like the increased number of portrayals of unapologetic, complex and flawed straight women on stage and screen, queer women can eventually occupy the same space. They too can be women who are not there to satisfy anyone’s idea of ‘nice’.

The best theatre to see in May

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We wanted Grotty to shine an unforgiving light, by turns funny and dark, on the rough and tumble of being on the Dalston scene, and the at times difficult and disturbing behavior of the women within. It’s a queer roar rooted in painful truth. Unsanitised queer female stories with all their difficult faces are important, both as a refusal to let queer women go unnoticed, and to hopefully engage not only queer audiences, but also straight theatregoers who may have otherwise not been exposed to these voices. If we’re playing it safe and not thumping down on preconceptions and conventionality, why are we doing this at all? Keep coming, keep asking questions, keep challenging, and for other practitioners – keep fighting to make lesbian stories.

Grotty runs at the Bunker Theatre until May 26; bunkertheatre.com

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