Giles Woodforde finds out how nation’s top diver prompted a show on coming out

‘It’s inspired by the ‘pitch perfect’ coming out of Tom Daley,” says Thomas Hescott of the show Outings, which he’s co-written with Matthew Baldwin.

“For every cool and confident young man, there are 100,000 frightened and awkward boys and girls who want to come out and this play is about them.”

Olympic bronze-winning diver Tom Daley came out just over a year ago, posting a YouTube video that made front page news and earned him widespread support.

“One thing I’ve never felt comfort-able talking about are my relation-ships,” he said, adding: “Come spring this year, my life changed massively. I met someone who made me feel so happy, so safe, it just feels great. That someone is a guy.

“It did take me by surprise a little bit, although it was always in the back of my head that something like that could happen. But it wasn’t until spring this year that things clicked.”

But as Thomas Hescott says, most people thinking about coming out are not celebrities taking to social media.

“The coming out story of those in the public eye has changed drastically over the years, and that has affected the journey of personal coming out stories. Just look at YouTube. Young gay boys (and yes, they almost always seem to be boys) now film themselves coming out to their parents and upload it. I don’t think it was happening 12 months ago, when we started to write the play.

“There’s a real thirst for self expression and for creating your own narrative. People are very engaged to the idea of ‘reality’, so a play that tells real life coming out stories; the time was right. We also knew that the subject is a rich vein for both comedy and pathos,” Thomas says.

“There are as many coming out stories as there are people who have come out. Sure they often fit in to certain archetypes, but really the nuances of each individual story can be very different. There are patterns and connections to the experience, but at the same time we are all in some ways unique.”

Billed as the world’s first such show, Outings consists of more than 20 such real life accounts, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year.

“After Edinburgh, we did a big rewrite, we’re always on the look-out for new coming out stories,” Thomas explains. “Those who saw the show in Edinburgh probably only saw about a third of what Oxford audiences will see. There’s two thirds new material.”

The actors change from perform-ance to performance. In Oxford they will be Andrew Doyle and Camille Ucan, joined by Caroline Lennon (Siobhan in The Archers) and Oxford graduate, author and Guardian columnist Owen Jones.

He says: “As an active campaigner for LGBT rights and Transphobia, I’m proud to be returning to Oxford for my theatrical debut at the Playhouse.”

Outings has now toured and has had very positive feedback from audiences. But Thomas says his father surprised him most with his own comments.

“He said it wasn’t really a play for a gay audience, it was a play for our friends and family. It helped him understand the experience of being gay and coming out more.

“My Dad never had a problem with me being gay. It never occurred to me that the play would hold any revelations for him.”

Outings
Tuesday, March 24
Tickets: 01865 305305 or oxfordplayhouse.com