I have caught up with Alessandro Onorato about his play Let’s Try Gay performing at The Bread and Roses Theatre, Date & time: Wednesday 22nd & Thursday 23rd @7.30pm.

What was the inspiration behind your show?

I am a movie enthusiast, and I often try to find unusual and low-budget movies. It all started when I first saw the independent American movie “Humpday”. Movie was shot in a few days, with theatre actors and a lot of improvisation. I thought that it would have been very interesting to take the story of two straight guys trying to shoot a gay porn movie to the theatre; trying to fulfil the embarrassment and spreading it to the audience. I wrote the script (that was later awarded with the Premio Internazionale Fedro Dostoevskij) but keeping in mind to open the show to improvisation.

 

How long has your production been in progress?

Production should have opened in Edinburgh Fringe 2020, but due to the covid pandemic, it was postponed until late 2021. Since then, the show went on stage in Colchester Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, at the IDGTF in Ireland with a sold-out run and in Milan.

 

Where are planning on taking the play next?

After London, the show will go on stage in Barcelona, Spain, and will tour several theatres in Italy in spring 2026.

What would you like audiences to take away from your show?

The show starts as a comedy, entertaining the audience with the deconstruction of masculinity during the first half an hour, it later on goes a little bit down deeper, and giving the message that is never too late to fully understand yourself and your choices. It is like the chance to take a laugh, and a hug.

What are you looking forward to most about performing your show?

It is our first time in London with Let’s Try Gay, a city that we think has the perfect audience for the show. In addition, it took us quite some time to be perfectly “fit” on stage with this show, since it is quite complicated for us to improvise in a language that is not ours, so now we are very enthusiast at the idea to go on stage again.

Why did you choose your particular Fringe venue?

 

We feel great to go on stage in The Bread and Roses Theatre: it is a venue with a very inclusive program, which is very reassuring for us. Also technically Let’s Try Gay works better in intimate venues where you can connect with the audience in a stronger way.

Which shows at the Fringe are you planning on watching?

 

Best part of Fringe Festivals is in my opinion to have the chance to see some show you really would not plan to see in advance and just follow what you bump into. As per our schedule, we would probably try to catch “Wanda’s celebration” and “Pentimento”

 

Have you had any major hurdles to overcome to get this production on the stage?

 

First major hurdle was the “unlucky timing” of Covid that made us loose quite some time and money. Also in autumn 2023 we lost our main funding partner and had to cancel a tour to the US that we had been programming for long. Anyway, as we are only two people on stage plus a technician we always found the way to go on with the production.

What other productions have you previously been involved with?

 

With the company I Birbanti we have been working in Italy since 2012 with our first UK appearance in Camden Fringe 2014 with the show Kalissa Faust. Since 2019 part of the group founded Underluminal, that staged The last king of porn (Milan, Edinburgh, London, Brighton, Colchester, Rome, Ventnor, Tallin, Cres), Confused Chronicles of Aleppo (Milan, London, Colchester) and Empty Souls (Milan, London, Colchester).

https://lambethfringe.com/events/lets-try-gay

https://www.instagram.com/underluminal/

https://twitter.com/ibirbanti/