Huddersfield's 1981 Pride recreated in theatre project

Monologues performed by actors retold the stories of the 1981 march

The time the national Pride march decamped from London to Huddersfield has been recreated by actors.

The LGBTQ+ march was held in the West Yorkshire town in July 1981, in defiance of a police campaign against a popular gay venue.

The Gemini Club had been labelled "a cesspit of filth" by police, so Pride moved to Huddersfield in solidarity.

Stephen M Hornby created immersive theatre event "The Day The World Came To Huddersfield" to retell the events.

The playwright wrote monologues based on interviews with people who took part, along with Abi Hynes, Peter Scott-Presland and Hayden Sugden.

The event saw actors mingling with crowds in the town centre, telling their stories as they restaged the march.

It will also be performed at the Lawrence Batley Theatre on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

The theatre group took a similar route to the march more than 40 years ago

An exhibition of portraits of some of the original marchers has also gone on display at the venue.

Prof Sue Sanders, chair of LGBTQ+ History Month and Schools OUT UK, said the Pride event in Huddersfield was "a wonderful piece of forgotten history that needs to be known across the UK".

"This is an extraordinary project," she said.

"These performances are not just creating some wonderful new theatre, they bringing the past to life in a wonderful, vivid and highly entertaining way."

The street performance took place in the courtyard outside the Lawrence Batley Theatre and actors took a circular route through the town centre, which included parts of the original route.

Mr Hornby said: "The Pride march of 1981 was full of extraordinary characters from Huddersfield and from across the country.

"It's been a treasure trove for the playwrights who found some amazing tales.

"When we bring them all together it really captures what marching in the UK's first national Pride felt like."

Pride events were taking place up and down the UK on Saturday