Shaper/Caper presents our award-winning production ‘Small Town Boys’ - a brand new show exploring the escapism of queer nightlife during the 80s & early 90s AIDS crisis through dance and spoken word.
A young man leaves his small hometown to find refuge in the bright lights and warm embrace of the big city; he discovers solace and joy in the city's LGBTQ+ scene, but soon finds himself navigating a terrifying unfolding health crisis, almost completely ignored by the government. Small Town Boys won the Creative Arts Award at the 2024 Proud Scotland Awards!
Our cast of eight dancers take over the floor of nightclubs across Scotland, with a soundtrack of everyone’s favourite 80s & early 90s anthems, as well as original music. The dancers are joined by our Community Cast, a group of volunteer dancers bridging the gap between performers and spectators, bringing the joy and chaos of the nightlife scene to life.
Audience members are invited to relive their own memories of the dance floor as the boundaries between stage and club are blurred, giving them a chance to boogie alongside our cast (or take a backseat and watch, if they’d prefer!).
Select performances will be accompanied by a Q&A from either Terrence Higgins Trust or Waverley Care, our charity partners, giving vital context on queer history and sexual health — and where we go from here.
Small Town Boys is produced in association with Gardyne Theatre, Dundee Rep Theatre, Dundee & Angus College, and Terrence Higgins Trust, and is generously supported by The National Lottery and Creative Scotland’s Open Fund. Small Town Boys is touring Scotland in 2024 thanks to Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund.
Small Town Boys won the Creative Arts Award at the Proud Scotland 2024 Awards!
Show Dates
Wanna join the Community Cast?
We are looking for people to join the Small Town Boys Community Cast and dance alongside the amazing professional dancers! No experience necessary and it’s completely free! Click below for info for each area or select a date below!
Photos
Photos by Maria Falconer
Playlist
Listen to the music from Small Town Boys here.
Cast & Creative Team
Concept, Choreography and Direction:
Thomas Small
Set and Costume Design:
Becky Minto
Lighting Design:
Dylan Baillie
Composer and Sound Design:
Mark Franks
Dramaturg and Contributing Writer:
Natalie McGrath
Associate Designer:
Fraser Lappin
Devised by:
Thomas Small and the Company Dancers
Rehearsal Director:
Ellis Saul
Cast
Shawn Addison (he/him)
Shawn, Jamaican-born and British trained at Northern School of Contemporary Dance and graduated in 2018.
Influenced by his background and professional career, storytelling has been at the heart. Stories passed down generations from his Caribbean lineage and stories shared within the collaboration in which artists work. Whether it was Companies exploring the intersection between identity and technique Or abstraction of narrative, Shawn's early career was intent towards developing listening skills to hear the story told through the body.
He then joined Phoenix Dance Theatre from 2019 -2023 working with choreographers such as Christopher Bruce, Dane Hurst, Jamaal Burkmar, Miguel Altinaga, Alethia Antonia, Alleyne Dance, Ben Duke, Henrike Oguike and Darshan Singh-Bhuller. Described as a deep thinker, with smiley energy, fluid movement quality, and a compassionate spirit.
Also exploring a Teaching Pedagogy reconnecting with modern dance. "I'm interested in legacy, innovation and shifts" through exploration and codification. He is a guest artist at Northern School of Contemporary Dance delivering contemporary technique. Exploring the Centre, Spirals and Opposition whilst exploring his own creative pursuits.
Naissa Essart-Nielsen (he/him)
Naissa is a queer interdisciplinary movement artist. He began his training in circus at National Centre for Circus Arts, and is a graduate of London Contemporary Dance School.
He has worked with companies such as James Cousins Company, CLOD Ensemble and Tough Boys, and notably performed with Caitlin Barnett Company, at both the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival in Palestine and Glastonbury.
Screen credits include projects with Channel 4, BBC Young Creatives, Amazon Prime and JGrrey.
Naissa is very excited to be back with Shaper/Caper in Scotland again.
Jake Evans (he/she/they)
Originally from the Wirral and now based in Manchester, Jake started dancing at a community youth theatre before going on to train at Northern School of Contemporary Dance where he received both his BPA and MA degrees. During this time he performed throughout the UK, Europe and in the USA, working with choreographers such as Angus Balbernie, Rod Dixon, Odette Hughes, Dam van Huyn, Anton Lachky, Efrosini Protopapa and Athena Vahla.
Jake has worked with companies including Vincent Dance Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Opera North and Gary Clarke Company. His own ACE-funded solo work ‘Queer’ New World’ was selected for Kala Sangam’s ‘Back to there Studio’ programme, Northern Connections 2022, and Turn 2024. He was also selected for HOME’s collaborative arts programme PUSH Lab 2024, and most recently acted as rehearsal director for ACCA Dance Theatre. His poetry appears in 'Queer Icons: A Queer Bodies Anthology’ published by Broken Sleep.
Jake is also a drag artist, performing at events throughout the UK, shows including Harry May Bedell’s ’The End is Queer’, and filming for Channel 4. Artists he has worked with include Brooke Candy, Charli XCX, Hercules & Love Affair, Mykki Blanco & Dennis Sulta. @itspureblyss
Alex Gosmore (he/him)
Alex started dancing in his hometown of Bristol before moving to Leeds to train at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Following this, he toured internationally with VERVE where he performed works by Sita Ostheimer, Alesandra Seutin and Akram Khan.
As a professional freelance artist, he has also worked as part of Tom Dale Company, Uchenna Dance, Extended Play, James Cousins Company and is currently cast in a new creation for Gary Clarke Company.
Alongside performing, Alex is interested in developing his teaching practice and choreographic voice. His passion for dance is driven by music, people and the ability to access experiences and emotions through moving.
He is excited to return to Shaper/Caper for this tour of Smalltown Boys. It is a privilege to be involved in retelling such important stories of the LGBTQ+ community and sharing them with audiences.
Benji Knapper (they/them)
Benji is a London based freelance artist. They trained at Rambert School, graduating with a first class honours degree before joining Balletboyz in 2018. During their time with BalletBoyz, Benji has performed many programmes with works by Maxine Doyle, Xie Xin, Holly Blakey, Christopher Wheeldon, Vidya Patel, Thick & Tight, Russell Maliphant, Edd Arnold, Ivan Perez, Shelley Maxwell and more. They have also performed numerous work for TV and film.
Benji has also worked with James Cousins Company for National Theatre, DeNada Dance Theatre and Staatsoper Unter Den Linden under direction of Aletta Collins.
Benji has lead workshops internationally for BalletBoyz and has facilitated classes for Rambert School, Central School of Ballet, Laban, Yorkshire Ballet Seminars and for many professional companies.
Benji is thrilled to be returning to Shaper/Caper with SmallTown Boys.
Alex McCrossan (they/he)
Alex is non-binary, semi-human, masc leaning and disco loving (not necessarily in that order). They started working with Shaper/Caper as a dance trainee 6 years ago, fresh out of college but not yet out the closet.
They’ve had the privilege to work on multiple LGBTQ+ projects and shows on the lead up to playing Cardinal Disco in Small Town Boys which has helped bring extra context and comfort to their own queer and trans experience, and also allowed them to represent the drag excellence so prevalent and important not just in the 80s but in the present day also.
Queer nightlife and dance is a staple of our community across the globe, while our cast is not exactly in the hundreds, they hope that the microcosm of Small Town Boys will speak to various facets of the community, sometimes painful and often times joyous.
Dominic Rocca (he/him)
Dominic is a freelance dance artist originally from Reading. He trained at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance.
Since graduating in 2017, he has performed for a number of companies and choreographers for stage, gallery and film productions, including Mark Bruce Company (Frankenstein, Macbeth), Thick & Tight, the Royal Opera House, V&A Dundee, Formed View, Katya Bourvis and Shaper/Caper. As a member of BalletBoyz (Them/Us, Deluxe), he danced in works by Maxine Doyle, Xie Xin and Christopher Wheeldon.
He is looking forward to returning to Small Town Boys.
Away from performance, Dominic has worked as a freelance producer and is the Co-founder and Co-director of Ample Space, a multi-disciplinary studio business based in East London.
Ellis Saul (she/her)
Originally from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Ellis found dance at Dame Allan's Schools and began training as part of the Dance City CAT scheme. Ellis graduated from London Contemporary Dance School with a first-class honors degree and a recipient of the Peggy Hawkins Scholarship for outstanding potential.
Upon graduating, she was part of the post-graduate company EDge 2016, touring widely around the UK and Europe. Ellis went on to complete her Master’s degree with distinction at LCDS.
Ellis has since performed with Tony Adigun’s Avant Garde Dance, in the role of Nancy, touring ‘Fagin’s Twist’ around the UK as well as China and South America. She has performed works by Crystal Pite, Mathieu Geffre, Alexander Whitley, James Cousins, Renaud Wiser, Shaper/Caper and Joseph Toonga.
Ellis became an alumni choreographer in Youth Dance England Young Creative’s programme and choreographed work in collaboration with Wimbledon College of Art and for the Newcastle CAT. She is the choreographer to circus artists, Nikki & JD and collaborated in ‘Knot’, which has since won the Total Theatre & Jacksons Lane award for Circus 2019.
Alongside performing and choreographing, Ellis now works as a freelance company manager for Avant Garde Dance and as a rehearsal director.
Production Team
Production Manager:
Patrick Dalgety
Stage Manager:
Alex Tosh
Wardrobe Manager & Assistant Stage Manager:
Catriona Charlton
Community Cast
Dundee: Euan Smith, Chris Pope, Kata Wojewodzka, Kira Ferguson, James Gardner, Miklos Mayer, Elena Harrington, August Castle
Perth:
Inverness:
Stirling:
Glasgow:
Aberdeen:
About Terrence Higgins Trust
Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, offering support, information and advice services for those living with HIV and affected by HIV or poor sexual health. Our vision is a world where people with HIV live healthy lives free from prejudice and discrimination, and good sexual health is a right and reality for all.
The first named man to die of AIDS related causes, Terry Higgins died in July 1982 and his close friends formed a support group to help men like Terry and their friends. Charity status followed soon after and now, celebrating our 40th Anniversary year, we’ve been remembering Terry and reflecting on the work we’ve accomplished together over the past 40 years. We’ve seen incredible advances in prevention, testing, treatment and care for those living with HIV. But we still have big challenges if we’re to make sure that everyone can access the tools to protect themselves and others, so we finally end HIV transmissions.
HIV has changed, but we see time and again that many people’s views of HIV remain stuck in the decade when Terry Higgins died. Stigma can have devastating consequences in the lives of people living with and affected by HIV. Stigma can prevent someone from taking a test and getting the care and treatment they need. It can prevent those newly diagnosed from getting the support they need from those around them.
Our work to educate and dispel myths through changing perceptions and knowledge in the general public is as vital as it’s ever been – it’s also key to our goal to stop HIV transmissions.
If we find and test everyone living with HIV and get them onto treatment so HIV can’t be passed on, we can stop an epidemic. Working together, we can end new transmissions of HIV in the UK by 2030.
Support & Resources
In Scotland, Terrence Higgins Trust provides the following services from its hub in Glasgow and regional office in Dundee:
Face-to-face & postal testing
Support for people living with HIV and/or hepatitis C
Condoms by post
Training
Awareness raising
Volunteering opportunities
CONTACT
For emotional support or information on HIV & sexual health from THT Scotland, get in touch:
Phone: 0141 332 3838
Email: info.scotland@tht.org.uk
You can also contact THT Direct for support, advice and information:
Helpline: 0808 802 1221(Available Mon – Fri | 10AM – 6PM)
Live Chat: Accessed here. (Available Mon - Fri |11AM - 1PM & 3PM - 5PM)
Find out more about their work at tht.org.uk.
About Waverley Care
‘Waverley Care is Scotland’s leading HIV and hepatitis C charity. Everything we do is guided by the experiences of the people we work with, from shaping the services we deliver to influencing national policy around sexual health and blood borne viruses. Our vision is for a Scotland where no one faces HIV alone. We will achieve this by fighting stigma and empowering people living with HIV to live full and healthy lives.
Waverley Care was founded in 1989 at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Nearly 35 years later, we are working to end new transmissions of HIV in Scotland by 2030.’
Find out more about their work at www.waverleycare.org
Information for Promoters
If you are interested in accessing marketing materials for Small Town Boys, or want to find out more about the show, you can get in contact with:
Tessa Gordziejko
Producer
