Andrew Hayden-Smith reviews ‘A Hard Rain’

A Hard Rain

takes its name from the Bob Dylan protest song – which is quite appropriate, considering the play takes place in 1960s New York, in the few days before the gay liberation movement of the Stonewall riots.

Writers Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper are no strangers to Vauxhall’s Above the Stag theatre, having already won over audiences with their acclaimed Christmas shows. A Hard Rain is their first foray into serious theatre – and boy do they mean business.

During the play, relationships are forged and broken but, amidst the drama, there is plenty of humour – particularly from ex-soldier turned drag queen Ruby, who puts on quite a show.

We get to know all the characters at the bar in which the play is set during the two hours we’re in their company, very well actually, but the events of what happened on that fateful night will stay with us for much longer.

In the year gay marriage is made legal in England and Wales, this play helps to remind us that although there might still be progress to be made around the world, we shouldn’t forget how far we’ve come.

A Hard Rain runs until March 30 at Above the Stag in Vauxhall, London.

Follow Andrew Hayden-Smith on Twitter @AndrewHaydSmith or visit his official website.

> Click here to read Andrew’s recollections on ‘Queer As Folk’