Days after Andrew ends his seven-year relationship with college sweetheart, Jake, he is messaged out of the blue by a former ‘friend’. This unwelcome advance triggers an emotional spiral as Andrew recounts his unstable first steps into the world of gay sex and queer identity; all under the increasingly imposing guidance of Kevin, a teacher at his drama academy.
Naughty is a semi-autobiographical piece written to examine grooming in the LGBTQ+ community and the common lack of safe mentorship for queer youth. The one-person production uses multi-roling, voiceover and projections of text conversations to document the decline of a young relationship and the rise of an unhealthy dependency between student and teacher.
Andrew Houghton, the show’s writer and performer, said: “The initial Fringe run confirmed a strong emotional response and audience engagement with this topic and, through this tour, we want to take the conversation to a wider audience. The emphasis on cyber relationships will be particularly prominent coming out of the pandemic, as the current generation of queer youth were significantly isolated from their peers and support systems, with only an online community available.”
Naughty runs at Wrecking Ball Music & Books (15 Whitefriargate, Hull) on Friday 7 October at 7:30pm. Tickets can be purchased here.
Running time: 60 mins
Age: 14+
Tickets: £10
Content Warning: Sexual Language, Grooming
About Pink Milk Theatre
Pink Milk Theatre is a new theatre company – founded by Andrew Houghton and Sami Sumaria – with a focus on telling important and impactful stories from new voices in the theatre industry, particularly those from global-majority backgrounds and the LGBTQ+ community.
Andrew Houghton (they/he) is a Yorkshire-born actor who graduated from MA Acting at Guildford School of Acting in 2020. Prior to this, they created work with the New Theatre and Lakeside Arts Centre in Nottingham and were invited to the National Student Drama Festival for their performance and directorial roles.
They are passionate about telling queer stories and have worked alongside Qweerdog and Motley Crew Theatre. Alongside their stage work, they regularly perform with The Ben Kinsella Trust to deliver educational workshops surrounding the dangers of knife crime and youth violence.
Recent Theatre Credits: Stranger Things: The Experience (Fever/Netflix), Absolute Certainty? (Qweerdog, UK Tour), Everytime We Touch (IGNITE Festival), XPOSED (Southwark Playhouse), The Highwayman (Motley Crew Theatre, The Space), As Long As You Knew (Golden Goose Theatre).
Sami Sumaria (he/they) is a writer-performer of mixed South Asian heritage who graduated from MA Acting at Guildford School of Acting in 2020. After supporting the original production of Naughty for Camden Fringe, Sami is coming on board as official director for the 2022 tour. They have previously been involved in devising queer projects with Burning Pages Theatre Company and for Pen Theatre’s Queer Up season. Recently they presented their 4-star solo show ‘A Splash of Milk’ at Camden Fringe 2022 – an ‘insightful and unnerving’ piece confronting their personal experiences of racism in the LGBTQ+ community.
Humnah Abdullah (she/her) is a British-Pakistani Producer, who graduated from the Film Production and Theatre course at Brunel University in 2021. She previously worked with theatre production company Studio Brunel, producing an adaptation of Nina Raine’s Consent and directing an original piece titled The Ghost We Live With. Additionally, she was on the founding team of Creative Directors for Production HAKS, where she produced two short films and directed a third. Recently, Humnah was on the rehearsal team for Robert Icke’s adaptations of Hamlet and Oresteia, with Almeida Theatre, Wessex Grove and Park Avenue Armory.
Twitter/Instagram: @pinkmilktheatre
This tour is supported by Hull Truck Theatre.