Proud is a comedy drama by John Stanley that explores issues surrounding gay pride and identity. It depicts a love story between Tom, a survivor of the Admiral Duncan bombing

Admiral Duncan pub

The Admiral Duncan is a pub in Old Compton Street, Soho in the heart of London's gay district. It is named after Admiral Adam Duncan, who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.- Bombing :...

 in 1999, and his 18 year old boyfriend Lewis, a 2012 Olympic boxing hopeful, exploring their different attitudes toward being "Out and Proud". The play premiered at New Wimbledon Studio on April 8, 2009.

Plot synopsis

Rachel McCain, the proud mother of 18 year old boxer Lewis, organizes a birthday dinner in his honor, inviting a small but select group to celebrate the occasion. Amongst the guests are Lewis's much older boyfriend Tom, a survivor of the 1999 Admiral Duncan bombing and Mac, Lewis's homophobic boxing trainer. Unbeknownst to Rachel, Lewis has been hiding his sexual identity from Mac and consequently an evening of comical subterfuge and meaningful soul searching unfolds.

Production history

Proud was originally performed as part of the New Wimbledon Theatre

New Wimbledon Theatre

The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J B Mullholland. Built on the site of a large house with spacious grounds the theatre was designed by...

 Fresh Ideas Season from April 8 - 11 2009. The cast consisted of Jay Brown (Lewis McCain), Nic Gilder (Tom Sanders), Anna Lindup (Rachel McCain), Timothy Dodd (Mac), Emma Swinn (Ally Ferris) and Shana Swash

Shana Swash

Shana Frances Swash is an English actress best known for playing the role Demi Miller in the British television soap opera EastEnders...

 (Colleen McCain). The Production was directed by Christian Durham, Assistant Director was Katherine Hare

Katherine Hare

Katherine Elizabeth Hare is an English theatre director.-Early years:Hare was born in Cambridge, England to John Hare, a farmer, and Celia Hare...

. The Production Designer was Prav Menon-Johansson. Proud transferred to Above The Stag Theatre, Bressenden Place, Victoria where it performed from April 14 - May 10 2009 with the same cast.

Critical reception

Critical reception has been generally good. Paul Vale of The Stage

The Stage

The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...

wrote, "John Stanley’s new play represents a sterling attempt to marry farcical comedy with weightier themes." QX Magazine criticized the play as "falling short of brilliant" due to its dual nature of being a drama and a comedy, however eventually concluding that, "...it makes a very welcome change for a gay play to aim to inspire rather than depress! Judging by the moist eyes at the curtain call it certainly succeeds at just that." RemoteGoat described it as a "clever farce", and gave it 4 stars.

Writer John Stanley has discussed the creation of Proud on a number of websites including Whatsonstage.com. and GaydarNation.