SILENT UPROAR IS CHANGING, A WORD FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Today I want to talk about something that we are really excited about, and we need amazing people to make it work. We are launching something that embodies an entirely new chapter for Silent Uproar and represents a change as a company. 

It’s called Come Out! A queer focused steering group for the future of the company. And I just want to tell you about how we got here. The short version is the world has changed, and so must we.

Why are we changing? 

2025 has been a year marked by noise, and unfortunately, not always the positive kind. Across the UK, creative and community spaces are shrinking under financial and social pressures, while the politicised culture wars grow louder. The rhetoric surrounding trans rights, queerness, and progress is beginning to echo the language and sentiments of Section 28*.

The damaging legacy of that policy continues to ripple through British culture. And it has been challenged by great shows like Jon Brittain and Matt Tedford’s cult classic Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho and Breach Theatre’s After the Act. 

I, personally, believe it is fair to say that the recent Supreme Court ruling around gender definition, and the (subsequently withdrawn) interim EHRC guidance, feels like the Section 28 of our time.

To be completely honest, this frightens me. As a queer artist myself, I am frightened. I am deeply worried about the rise of anti-queer rhetoric, and I fear its wider consequences. It increasingly feels like cultural organisations and platforms are choosing “safer” programming, not out of creative intention, but because of financial pressures, political uncertainty, and fear of backlash. This is deeply concerning.

I worry for the artistic agitators. The people with the big, progressive, exciting ideas for new plays that might never see the light of day because of risk-averse decision-making, lack of funding, or the creeping threat of censorship, whether it is externally applied or self-imposed, in a climate that is making non-conformity more dangerous.

In reflecting on this, I have taken inspiration from the shows I love and from the words of Lyn Gardner, who wrote that:

“To be silent is to reduce the purpose of theatres as places where different viewpoints can coexist, old ideas can be challenged and new ideas can be articulated.”  (The Stage, 2024)

This really hit me hard. Because if those challenges and fresh ideas disappear from our public spaces, while anti-queer, anti-trans, and ultimately anti-progressive rhetoric spreads freely across social media and mainstream platforms, then the tides could very easily shift. We risk watching years of social progress for queer people and communities roll backwards. 

It is because of this, we are rethinking what it means for Silent Uproar to exist - where we can make the most impact with great nights out, and how we as an organisation can amplify the voices and conversations that matter most to the communities we serve.

One thing is certain: we need to make some noise, and we will not foster any further silence. 

What are we going do?

Silent Uproar for me has always been about creating fun nights out with teeth, about making theatre that is loud, acidic, messy, camp, and kind. I wanted our nights out to bring people together for a laugh and a drink, but also to get them talking about something that f**king matters.

And now more than ever, the world we live in now demands more than entertainment; it demands resistance. And we intend to provide resistance with style.

Over the past few years, we have been focusing on young audiences, helping more people aged 16 to 25 step into the theatre for the first time. Through that work, we have learned so much about accessibility and about how community shapes creativity. 

But we weren't really making shows just for young people, we were making shows for outsiders, and particularly queer people. So we are officially moving from age to identity, from youth arts to queer culture. Because the stories we tell, the spaces we hold, and the futures we dream of have always been full of glitter, camp, care, and ultimately resistance.

This is not about us becoming something new. It is about us becoming even more authentically ourselves - bolder, louder, and more unapologetic than ever.

What is “Come Out!” and The Future of Silent Uproar?

As we enter this next chapter, we are going to further involve LGBTQIA+ communities in our work, so through amazing nights out we can platform their voices on local and national stages. We want to work with the community to discuss which old ideas need challenging and which new ideas need articulating. And that starts right now with you and Come Out!

Come Out! is our queer steering group. We want this group to be a gathering of bold, brilliant queer and allied voices to help shape the future of Silent Uproar in making theatre that is louder, prouder, and more challenging; a collective to help us spark conversations and keep progress moving forward. They will help us shape our future programme- from the artists we commission, the spaces we perform in, to the type of work we make. 

I truly believe that together, we can actually make a difference, and this is your invitation to join us. 

Come Out!, speak up, and help us make an uproar. Apply now.

With Love, 

Alex 

Artistic Director

*For those not in the know: Section 28 was a UK law introduced in 1988 that banned schools and councils from “promoting homosexuality.” It effectively silenced LGBTQIA+ education and visibility until it was repealed in 2003.