Abstract
This research scrutinises Northern Fun Pubs (NFPs), their inception, heyday, decline and legacy, which is hitherto an undocumented area of LGBTQ+ performing arts/social history, and thus creates a platform for future endeavours in this field. This is an area of LGBTQ+ social history which organically appeared, and which has not been researched before, and which is therefore rapidly being lost as memories fade and participants die. This research employs a mixed or messy methodology, utilising the traditions of oral history, as well as academic modes of Practice-Research and autoethnography, which involves my experience as an industry practitioner which positions me as an observer-participant researcher, also known as the researcher researched. I also offer the testimonies of the people who created the original NFPs, and those who subsequently expanded their development.I explore the extent to which NFPs unconsciously mimicked aspects or characteristics of past entertainment forms such as the turn-of the century French Cabarets of Montmartre and the Weimar Cabarets of Berlin, the nineteenth century Free & Easy public houses, Saloon theatres, and the Victorian & Edwardian Music Halls and Variety Theatres.
The production of this research offers a significant lens to examine, define and reframe a significant contemporary entertainment trope, the drag show, whilst allowing for an examination of 'Camp' sensibility via gay licence. Moreover, this research interrogates the constructed gay realities and identities being formed within the NFP scene[s] and the manner in which these venues were queering the heteronormative narrative of a specific time and place. I further argue that the NFPs were viewed as LGBTQ ‘safe’ spaces, which they, inadvertently, created - as noted by Taylor (2012).
I conclude that the NFPs were gay bars for straight people utilising elements from past entertainment tropes, albeit unconsciously. In the NFPs, camp was accepted, if not understood in its entirety, and people were experiencing what McGrath (1996: 22 – 25) called, ‘a good night out in the North’.
Throughout this work I will endeavour to keep my academic writing[s] just that – academic. However, the reader will note that on occasion there will be a shift in phraseology when I discuss my autoethnographical musings. In the spirit of the NFPs, I give myself licence to use colloquialisms and camp metaphors as and when I deem them fit: these will abound so be prepared!
Finally, this thesis would be better served and digested, when read in tandem with both the Glossary/Directory and the NFP maps.
| Date of Award | 6 Feb 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | HELEN NEWALL (Director of Studies), MARK EDWARD (Supervisor) & CATHERINE QUIRK (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- Queer, Queer Performance, Queer Theatre, Northern Fun Pub, NFP, Fun Pub, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Performance, Camp, Camp Performance, Northern Comedy, Drag Performance, Tambourines, Lip Synch Performance, Comedy Drag, Female Impersonation, Gay Culture, Amsterdam Bar, Henry Africas