Queerguru has been Down Under quite a bit recently covering Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney WorldPride 2023, and Myra DuBois’s Antipodean Tour and here’s one more item before we head back to the Northern Hemisphere.
The ABC Network, in conjunction with Screen Australia, has had queer writer Adriano Cappelleta be one of the adapters of his own hit stage play Never Let Me Go into a four-part musical drama called IN OUR BLOOD.. It’s inspired by Australia’s radical response to AIDS in the early 1980s, In an interview at the time of the play’s theatrical run, Cappelleta said
“I wanted to honour the people who lived and died in my community and who fought so bravely. I often think of all the wonderful creative men I never got to meet. They could have been my mentors, my friends, my lovers. I will never know the power of their human spirit, but their stories have given me strength to live boldly, and Never Let Me Go is my love letter to them all.”
“In Our Blood” will star Tim Draxl (“A Place to Call Home”), Matt Day (“Rake” and “Harrow”), Jada Alberts (“Mystery Road”), Nicholas Brown (“A Perfect Pairing”), Anna McGahan (“Spirited”) and Oscar Leal (“Bump”).
In Our Blood is inspired by those in government, the LGBTQIA+ community, and benevolent supporters who together led the world in their response to AIDS in the ’80s. It’s still a difficult subject to address for many who suffered great personal loss, but this is a seminal moment in Australian history is set to inspire and resonate with audiences when it premieres on ABC.
Watch this Space for an update on when and where it will be screened