Meet the voices behind Pride musical: the London show exploring LGSM Activism and Queer History (EXCLUSIVE)
From the streets to the silver screen, and now to the stage in a new musical, Pride, the story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) lives on. Here, Attitude meets lead actor Sam Barnett, original LGSM member Jonathan Blake and writer Stephen Beresford
By Jack Cullen
The setting is the small mining village of Onllwyn, Wales, in 1984. A beleaguered mining community is facing the swingeing axe of Thatcher’s government, when, in an unlikely turn of events, a group of lesbian and gay activists from London comes to their aid, forming campaign organisation Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). What transpires is the union of two disparate oppressed groups that overcome their social differences to make history. Their story became immortalised in contemporary LGBTQ+ lore, before being turned into a major motion picture, Pride, starring Andrew Scott, Imelda Staunton and Jessica Gunning, in 2015.
Now, more than a decade after the film’s release, the story has been adapted into a major new musical. Directed by Matilda the Musical’s Matthew Warchus, Pride will play at the National Theatre’s Dorfman for a three-month run this summer. I’m on the rehearsal set in London Bridge chatting with LGSM member Jonathan Blake, the actor who plays him, Sam Barnett, and the writer of the Pride movie and now the musical, Stephen Beresford.
Jonathan Blake was one of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed with HIV
Blake is on hand to ensure that the musical remains authentically rooted in queer history, and to serve as the real-life inspiration for Barnett’s character. His involvement with LGSM was bound up with his status as one of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed with HIV.
Reflecting on his diagnosis in October 1982, he says, “It was an extraordinary experience going through it in the 1980s. I thought I was going to die of AIDS and was forced to live my life as if I might be dead in two weeks. It really was terrifying, and yet in some way it forced us to live in the moment, stand up for ourselves, and live our lives in a way that made every moment count. For me, activism was something to channel my pain and my anger into; it was a major displacement activity, and it was how I coped with my diagnosis.”
Blake says he’s “grateful” for the musical adapatation of Pride
According to him, the Jonathan Blake in the theatre show is Beresford’s embellished version of his life story. “I would never dance on a table!” he clarifies. “But I love it and I’m very grateful for it.”
Portraying Blake is Barnett, who famously played David Posner in the stage show The History Boys. Now forty-something, he retains the youthful glow and romantic wistfulness he had then. After acting as gay composer Benjamin Britten in the recent smash-hit show Ben and Imo, Barnett is quite possibly one of the UK’s finest unsung queer actors.
He is full of enthusiasm about the show – not least because it means a return to musical theatre. “I’ve actually been cast in musicals five times, but due to clashes I was only able to do two of them. Musical theatre has always felt like this parallel career that I could have pursued but didn’t. This musical, Pride, is hands-down the most challenging show I’ve ever done, but I’m ready and I’m in great company. Pride is bringing musical theatre back to the National Theatre’s Dorfman which is special in itself.”
Sam Barnette praises Jamie Parker as his professional inspirations
Among Barnett’s professional inspirations is Jamie Parker, whom he admires for being able to move seamlessly between theatre, screen and musical theatre. “When I was a kid, I did ballet, tap and disco, but then I stopped for 25 years, and now I’m going back to my dance roots,” says Barnett. “For a long time, I didn’t like people watching me dance, so this show is giving me a chance to re-address that.”
Barnett brings his own perspective to the part, having grown up gay in Yorkshire in the 80s when the AIDS crisis was building up to its catastrophic peak. “I have a really complicated relationship with my sexuality,” he says. “In Whitby I couldn’t hide my gayness, and I was the only gay person I knew or could see. I remember the scary AIDS adverts on TV, and this overwhelming sense that it was wrong to be gay.”
PRIDE is at London’s Dorfman Theatre from 11 June to 12 September 2026.
This is an excerpt from feature appearing in the May/June 2026 issue of Attitude magazine. Subscribe below.