Holding The Man to play in UK

Holding The Man, the smash hit Australian production, adapted by Tommy Murphy from Tim Conigrave’s award winning and best selling memoir of the same name, will make its UK debut this Spring at Trafalgar Studios 1 in London.

One of Australia’s most celebrated comic actors, Jane Turner (who has an international cult following as the writer and star of Kath and Kim, in the role of Kath) will be making her West End debut, with further casting to be announced.

Falling in love with the captain of the football team at an all-male Melbourne High School in the ‘70’s was never going to be universally popular. But for Tim Conigrave being young and gay in Australia was exciting but uncharted territory.

Holding The Man is an achingly funny and heartbreaking true life story about the relationship between Tim and John Caleo. This multi-award winning play explores the highs and lows of their remarkable partnership and is a celebration that speaks across generations, sexual preference and culture.

Holding the Man (published by Penguin) is the best-selling memoir by Australian writer, actor, and activist Timothy Conigrave. Reprinted thirteen times around the world Holding the Man won the United Nations Human Rights Award for Non-Fiction in 1995. When the theatrical adaption opened in Sydney in 2007 it enjoyed unprecedented success at the box office, winning critical acclaim and multiple awards.

The show will be directed by David Berthold, director of the original Australian production, and designed by Brian Thomson, most recently known for his design of the musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The play is produced by Daniel Sparrow (All About My Mother) and Mike Walsh OBE

The term ‘Holding the Man’ comes from Australian Football and refers to a transgression that incurs a penalty.

The play opens in April.