Detention

Following on from the multi award-winning COAL and critically acclaimed WASTELAND.

DETENTION explores the impact of SECTION 28: a piece of largely hidden legislation from Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government in 1988, which ‘prohibited the promotion of homosexuality’, forcing people from the LGBT+ community into a place of secrecy, fear and shame at a time when the country was in industrial turmoil and the gay community was being ravaged by the onslaught of AIDS.

Gary Clarke’s powerful and personal working-class storytelling draws on public and private stories and testimonies, including a rare insight into the LGBT+ Switchboard Logbooks, combined with vivid choreography performed by a company of exceptional dancers, an evocative narrator, a local cast of LGBT+ people, striking designs in film, sound, light and costume and music tracks by the iconic band TEST DEPT. DETENTION is a bold and moving exploration of the violence, loneliness, protests, debates, unlikely allies and the remarkable individuals and organisations of the time.

DETENTION toured across England in 2025 to critical and audience acclaim.

Artistic Direction: Gary Clarke
Producer: Annabel Dunbar
Artistic Associate: Gavin Coward
Choreography: Gary Clarke and Detention dancers
Dramaturgy: Lou Cope
Set & Costume Design: Ryan Dawson Laight
Lighting Design: Joshie Harriette
Composer / Sound Design: Torben Sylvest
Music Collaborators: TEST DEPT
Film Maker: Kamal Macdonald
Thatcher’s Voice: Steve Nallon
Script & Text: Adam Zmith
Associate Set & Costume Designer: Hannah Boothman
AIDS Quilt: Andi Walker
Banners: Hold it Up Collective Afi Khan
Carpenter: (Switchboard) Archie Brooks

Originally:
Produced by: Gary Clarke Company
Co-commissioned by: Nottingham Playhouse, The Grand Theatre Blackpool, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Cast, The Place | Midland’s co-presenter FABRIC.
Funded: Public funding through Arts Council England and core funding from John Ellerman Foundation.
Partnership support from: Switchboard | The national LGBTQIA+ support line. 10am-10pm every single day | 0800 0119 100 | www.switchboard.lgbt

Age Guidance: 14+
Duration: 85 minutes