The Vote with Mark Walker – Performer and Writer, Rose Collis, about The Boy and The Bear

Latest TV News Editor, Mark Walker, speaks to the Performer and Writer, Rose Collis, about The Boy and The Bear. As part of her ongoing ACE-funded Forty Years Out (And Counting): Performing The Archive multi-media project, The Boy and The Bear was written, performed, recorded, edited, arranged and produced by Seaford-based performer and writer, Rose Collis, during the 2020-21 lockdown. It was inspired by, and draws on, sections of the research and script development of her solo stage show (now postponed until 2022) — a scripted and performed audio-visual account of the rich personal and political journey taken by Rose Collis and her then closest gay male friend, who both came out in 1978. The personal stories unwind against a social and political backdrop and context of early Gay Pride marches; police harassment; anti-fascist/anti-racist activism; ‘agit-prop’ gay and feminist theatre; the London lesbian and gay scene and media of the late 70s and early 80s; and the first decade of the AIDS crisis — all viewed through the lens of a veteran lesbian writer, performer and activist who participated, witnessed and chronicled these events. Funny, provocative and moving, the film includes personal testimony, letters, photographs, diaries, ephemera, news cuttings and others materials from the extensive archive of Rose Collis curated over five decades, plus some of her original music. The film has already been viewed nearly 800 times, by audiences in the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, and will be submitted to suitable film festivals.