Preview: A Haunted Existence, Tobacco Factory Theatres

A Haunted Existence is the latest piece of theatre from Bristol performance artist Tom Marshman – and also the second production, after Rosa Eaton’s Southville Unexplained Club, to come out of Tobacco Factory Theatres’ new artist residency scheme Platform.

Tom Marshman blends creative technology, music and projection as he retraces the forgotten true story of a young local man arrested for gross indecency.

In the early 1950s, 17-year-old Geoffrey Patrick Williamson was on the Exeter to Bristol train when he got into a conversation with another man, also travelling in his train compartment, who accused Geoffrey of making ‘improper approaches’ . The other man was a railway officer in plain clothes.

Geoffrey was arrested at the next stop, Taunton. When questioned, Williamson revealed the names of men he had had sex with, so beginning a domino effect of arrests, prison sentences, aversion therapy and suicide.

A Haunted Existence weaves together history and hearsay to highlight turmoil, stigma and heartbreak and tell the story of Britain’s very recent, shameful past.

Platform has evolved following a varied series of artist residencies which ran at Tobacco Factory Theatres over the last year. Three of these artists – Tom Marshman, Rosa Eaton and The Bishop Sisters – perform their finished pieces at TFT’s new studio space, the Spielman Theatre this month.

Here’s Tom to explain more about the show.

My new show explores the forgotten histories of men prosecuted for homosexuality in England during the 1950s. At the heart of this work is the story of Geoffrey Williamson. In 1954, Williamson made approaches to a fellow passenger on a train. The passenger was a railway policemen. On arrest, Williamson gave the names of a number of other men he’d been involved with, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of those men also.

I first heard about the case at an LGBTQ History conference, where local historian Andy Foyle spoke about the case . The story really captured my imagination. It was so shocking, I really needed to know more. That was about three years ago, and I’ve wanted to create something about this story since. I recruited another historian, Jeanie Sinclair. Jeanie visited some LGBTQ Archives in London, like Hall-Carpenter archives at LSE where she was able to gather more information, related to the case, as well as more general information that formed an overall view of what life was like for LGBTQ+ people in post war England. We also used Ancestry.com, to retrace the men’s steps, so there were many, Who Do You Think You Are, moments!

Part of my research was also hosting a seance, where I tried to reach anyone that had passed on but still had a story to tell. It was a pretty unorthodox way of gathering research but it has really informed the mood of the show. People forget what the world was like before the partial decriminalisation, in 1967 - gay men really did live a haunted existence. I’ve also been exploring how living with this trauma passed onto the next generation. Inherited trauma is something we’re just beginning to understand.

I spent a short time in We The Curious, the science centre in Bristol, talking to people and collecting responses as to how they feel about inherited trauma, which was very enlightening. It brings the history bang up-to-date and helps us understand that we are our history. Even though these men were not blood relatives of mine I feel a strong sense of kinship. In the LGBTQ world, we often talk about a sense of family, which I’ve profoundly felt for and with these men.

It’s a very important story that has not been told before. It’s an important lesson for us all, to know what we have been through, regarding how attitudes towards gay men have shifted. The show is (I hope) very engaging, with beautiful arresting images on film, projected in the space, quirky dance routines, some supreme music, written by Kid Carpet, guaranteed to move and a collection of vinyl to tell this important story.

A Haunted Existence is at Tobacco Factory Theatres from Nov 29-30. For more information, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/a-haunted-existence