Casting announced for PROUD - A Queer Love Story at the King's Head Theatre

Casting has been announced for Bren Gosling’s powerful new drama PROUD, by Bren Gosling, running at the King’s Head Theatre from 22 February-12 March.

This moving tale of conflict and connection tackles themes of race, trauma, religion, and sexuality. Double Telling’s production of PROUD brings together the talents of Taofique Folarin (The Lion King, Lyceum  theatre; Norma Jean is Dead, Above the Stag), Andrei Maniata ( [BLANK], National Theatre) and Kaine Hatukai (The Secret Love Life of Ophelia, Greenwich Theatre; The Wind in  The Willows, Derby Theatre). 

PROUD centres around three complex characters. After his Pentecostal mother dies, Roland is liberated to live openly as a gay man. He relocates from Brixton to Walthamstow, where he  unexpectedly falls for Amir, a much younger refugee with a war-torn past. Their magnetic  connection is tested, however, by Amir’s PTSD, his inability to identify as gay and Roland’s  strained relationship with his teenage son, Gary. What binds these characters together is the  desire to know and understand one another as they struggle to come to terms with their own  identities. 

This February, PROUD will be brought to the stage in a bold and compelling production by director Marlie Haco.

Haco said: “PROUD has been a long time in the making, but the play now  feels more relevant than ever, providing a glimpse into the emotional lives of those oppressed by  the forces of war, white supremacy, and homophobia. In directing PROUD, I hope to reveal both  the light and dark of the protagonists’ experience - the joy to be found in relationships, alongside  the pain carried within. For me, this is a story of how the desire for connection can overcome the  debilitating effects of our past and stir us to uncover hidden parts of the other.”

Adapted by Gosling from his own award-winning novel, The Street Sweeper, the play won a callout by ATG in 2021 and was long-listed for Papatango & Radius Playwriting prizes in 2020. 

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.