LAVENDER, a new queer play by Devon writer premiers in Exeter and London

LAVENDER is a crude and chaotic history lesson in the lives of two young queers. A butch Marxist trainwreck who works in the cereal aisle. A Christian with an engagement ring and the voice of an angel. Surrounding them is fifteen years of history. The rubble of polyester thongs, dolls and skipping ropes. Devon.

Characters Lucy and Nancy are down-to-earth, despicable and completely familiar. Future uncertain, they must face up to where it all began: sharpening pencils and plucking the wings off of flies, aged seven. Conceived by Torbay-based writer Holly Fitzpatrick, this fast-paced story soars through memories of a South West childhood. With funding from the Arts Council, LAVENDER seeks to protect local LGBTQ+ histories both personal and political.

“AN IMPORTANT, VIBRANT AND MOVING PIECE OF QUEER THEATRE EMERGING FROM THE FABRIC OF EXETER” - Alex Jackson (Co-Founder and Director of Exeter Fringe Festival)

The seeds of LAVENDER were planted in Holly Fitzpatrick’s dissertation in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter. Under the mentorship of award-winning local writer Sam North, this fledgling play emerged as messy and dirty, full of bittersweet nostalgia. It would ultimately grow into a queer two-woman show native to, and celebratory of, queer coming-of-age in the South West.

In October 2021, LAVENDER secured a place on Exeter Fringe Festival’s artist development programme. The team explored the intricacies of queer adolescence and its relationship with religion. The week culminated with a short performance to cultural leaders and local artists. Developing with Exeter Phoenix, Theatre Royal Plymouth and VAULT Festival, LAVENDER has found a home at the Omnibus Theatre Clapham.

Following warm and genuine feedback from Exeter Fringe, the team are diving into LAVENDER with two weeks of rehearsal at South West partner venues. The project includes workshops at Exeter Library for local LGBTQ+ young people, a premiere performance and panel discussion at Exeter Phoenix, followed by two performances at the Omnibus Theatre. LAVENDER charts a path for queer-identifying artists to cultivate work in Devon and share it nationally.

“BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, PERFORMED, STAGED, AND PRODUCED” - Professor Jana Funke (Associate Professor of English and Sexuality Studies, University of Exeter)

Holly Fitzpatrick, writer of LAVENDER, says: “Lucy and Nancy allow me to debate what it is to be queer and political, queer and faithful, queer and loving, queer and creative, queer by the epic coasts of Devon, queer in a cramped, dingy club toilet cubicle in London.

Now LAVENDER is beyond my self-indulgent anger. It is a movement sparking to foreground queer theatre in the South West, theatre which empowers the raging, boiling blood of queer women to bleed out across the region and beyond.”