The Pride

by Alexi Kaye Campbell

Winner of the Most Promising Playwright, Critics Circle Awards 2008 Alternating between 1958 and 2008, and featuring the same three people living similar yet radically different lives, The Pride examines changing attitudes toward sexuality over a period of fifty years. It is an exploration of intimacy, identity, and the courage it takes to be who you really are.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Queer, LGBT, Historical Fiction

79 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver: "All these people who were mute. Had been mute for hundreds, thousands of years."
Philip: "Most of the world still is. Mute."

Those lines were my favorite in the play, and they really resonated with me. I also really liked the idea of having time shifts between 1958 and 2008 to witness how some thematic elements stay the same.
3+1/2 stars for me, because despite its genuineness, the writing lacked that spark that could turn it into something 'special' for me. I have another play by Campbell on my list, and I'm interested to see how the relationship between characters develops there. Maybe I've just been out of practice in reading plays...

[Zoe Senese-Grossberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review is probably more like 3 1/2 stars. It’s a fine play, the dialogue is excellent and the characters and situations compelling. Every scene works on its own. It simply needs more. Campbell doesn’t perhaps understand that his play needs to embody more scope to convey the messages about gay history he wants to. Most principally is we never see a happy or even loving moment between our central couple, save a brief moment at the end which feels unearned. Phillip and Oliver always exist in scenes immediately following break ups or in conflict, or at the very best one meeting and one resolution. It makes it impossible for us to root for the love story that should be driving the stakes of the play. There is also an extremely graphic and disturbing moment of sexual violence committed within the couple that may have been rendered at the very least understandable had we seen the couple together in any context before this moment, but instead just poisons the audience to one character for the entire duration of the play (and also feels entirely undealt with by the author). It’s a play that has potential to be quite compelling and moving, but instead leaves the reader feeling unfinished and wanting to understand more.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I initially read this when it first came out almost ten years ago and remembered it as being a compelling and somewhat innovative piece of theatre. In retrospect, and on a second reading, it bears all the hallmarks/deficiencies of a debut piece; in particular, it annoyed the crap out of me that characters are forever repeating what someone else has just said, but as a question, rather than a statement ["I warned you about his sense of humor." "Sense of humor?"]- which people IRL hardly ever do, unless one of them is deaf!! And the overly schematic parallels between the two periods of the play could have been a bit better defined. I also found it fascinating that the Oliver character is advocating more freedom for gay people in BOTH time periods, but in the 1958 version, that means being able to be open and honest about one's sexuality, while in the 2008 version, that means embracing promiscuity, even though Oliver himself feels he might be addicted to anonymous sex... yet in the end, Oliver capitulates to his lover's demands for monogamy.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really some new ideas, but very genuine. The best thing about this play is that somehow you will be touched by the passing of time.

[Evie Drenth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely floored. This was such an interesting read, and I think everyone should read this. It was so beautifully written, the parallels were phenomenal, so so so good. Literally so amazing.

[Susannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've fallen way (way) out of the habit of reading plays, and it's especially hard to read them, knowing that some actors I really like performed in stagings I will never see (sigh). Bizarrely, I gave The Pride four stars instead of three because of how much I imagined those actors elevated the play itself, which was ok, though somewhat heavy-handed and occasionally muddled. The characters also were a bit underdeveloped on the page - the motivations of one in the 1950s setting and another in the 21st Century setting were not clear at all. Still, there were some moments that must have been pretty compelling onstage, and the premise was intriguing.

Three stars for the actual play plus one star for the performances in my mind. ;)

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

A play that is both poignant and very relevant to today. I must admit, my review is entirely skewed because so many things the characters are struggling with in the book (loneliness, identity, relationship) are things I myself have and continue to struggle with. It can get a little wordy and certainly more than a little preachy about subjects such as marriage equality and civil rights, and the subtext of these things lies uncomfortably close to the surface; but a wonderful conceit for a play and an in-depth look at the sexual politics of both 1958 and 2008.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having seen a fantastic production of ‘The Pride’ by Alexi Kaye Campbell several years ago, reading the script helped relive the experience of a great night at the theatre.

Apart from the plays often powerful exploration of themes like sexuality, identity and society’s changing attitudes, the imaginative use of set design and costume changes detailed - cleverly juxtaposes two periods of time, 1958 and 2008, in which the play is set, adding to its overall appreciation.

[Adamkassim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an interesting play but full of very self-conscious writing...

[Joelle.P.S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Same 3 characters, but exploring what if they'd been born 50 years earlier/later. Overlong; could use tightening up.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little "on the nose."