The Luxurious Time - A Queer Love Story

The Luxurious Time - A Queer Love Story comes to Waterside on Thursday 15 October, presented by Theatre North. It's a one-man show written and performed by Martin Lewton and directed by Nathan Crossan-Smith, and it's a true story drawn from Lewton's own life with his partner, who eventually succumbed to Alzheimer's disease. The play follows the insidious progression of the illness and the difficult decisions that come with it, and it asks whether love can survive when dementia strikes.

What makes it stand out is how it handles the voices. Lewton uses verbatim dialogue from both himself and his partner, bringing their actual words directly to the stage. It's a rare look at the impact of dementia on a long-term gay relationship, and the whole thing is framed as a queer call to action in the fight against dementia.

Theatre North has been around since 2001 and has a long history of producing groundbreaking queer theatre across the UK and Europe. Lewton himself has written and performed more than thirty plays and pieces, including Lord Arthur's Bed, Naked Homo, Billy Budd Sailor, Handel's Cross, Mirando the Gay Tempest, Queer Bodies and Scream Queer Murder. He also wrote the book Out On Stage - How to Make Queer Theatre, published by Nick Hern Books.

The performance is in The Chambers at Waterside Arts Centre, Waterside Plaza, Sale, Manchester, M33 7ZF. It runs from 20:00 to 21:20 — an hour and twenty minutes with no interval. Tickets are £16 full and £14 concession, and Waterside members get 10% off up to two tickets.