“a show that somehow manages to be both grittily DIY and sensuously extravagant … served up with such raw energy and panache, it’s also irresistibly, unforgettably compelling”
—The Guardian (UK)
“a genuinely fresh and distinctive new work
that gladdens the heart”
—The Stage (UK)
“It’s been a long time since the last revolutions and the faggots and their friends are still not free.” Published in 1977, this passage from Larry Mitchell and Ned Asta‘s The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions sets the scene for a radically reimagined history of the world told through a queer lens where fantasy meets liberation. Having become unavailable and reissued on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots because of its enduring relevance, this cult book of fables and myths serves as the starting point for a new music theater adaptation from the creative minds of composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman.
Together they conjure up a world that takes the original text on a kaleidoscopic journey that ignores boundaries just like the characters on stage do, drawing on theater, dance, and song from the Baroque to Broadway and beyond. The performers serve as actors, storytellers, and musicians all rolled into one, continually swapping roles while doing away with gender and genre norms and replacing them with unapologetic individuality and a lust for life. Their deeply personal stories prove both comforting and healing when shared through community in a colorful, madcap, and profound patchwork. The resulting cabaret-like spectacle is both vulnerable and daring, a fantastic parable hiding a political manifesto for survival that gives voice to the marginalized and oppressed everywhere.
Related Event
Artist Talk: Philip Venables & Ted Huffman
Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 6:00pm
Tickets: $25 (plus fees)
Music Philip Venables
Direction and Text Ted Huffman
Music Direction Yshani Perinpanayagam
Choreography, Costume Design Theo Clinkard
Set Design Rosie Elnile
Lighting Design Bertrand Couderc
Sound Design Simon Hendry
Dramaturgy Scottee
Produced by Factory International (Manchester) and Park Avenue Armory
Commissioned by Factory International, Manchester; Festival d’Aix-En Provence; Bregenzer Festspiele; Ruhrtriennale; The Southbank Centre; and NYU Skirball in association with Holland Festival.
Under exclusive licence and courtesy by Nightboat Books, New York
Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams.
Photo: Damien Frost
December 2–14, 2025
Tuesday–Thursday at 7:30pm
Friday–Saturday at 8:00pm
Sunday at 3:00pm
Performance Details
Wade Thompson Drill Hall
View the seating chart.
This performance is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.
Content Advisory
The makers of this work recognize that “faggot” is a provocative word—one that for many isn’t easy to read or hear. When Larry Mitchell wrote and published the book in 1977, he sought to reclaim the word in a loving, supportive and positive way. This follows a long process of reclamation by parts of the LGBTQIA+ community of words that have previously been seen as only negative—including using the word queer as a collective term.
The inclusion of the word in this production marks that intention and is a deliberate choice by the creative team. Since the book was published in 1977, conversations about gender diversity within the queer community have also evolved, and this is reflected in both the language the show uses and the casting.
The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions deals with sexual liberation in an explicit way. The production also refers to discrimination and violence against the LGBTQIA+ community.
Tickets
Tickets start at $30 (plus fees)
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