Proud (John Stanley play)

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 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.

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.

Proud was originally performed as part of the New Wimbledon Theatre 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 (Colleen McCain). The Production was directed by Christian Durham, Assistant Director was Katherine 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.

Proud was updated by Stanley and revived by The LOST Theatre, London in 2012 to coincide with the 2012 Olympic Games. The 2012 production was produced by LOST Theatre and directed by Oliver Jack. The cast consisted of Parry Glasspool (Lewis McCain), Matthew Hebden (Tom Sanders), Virginia Byron (Rachel McCain), Charlie Carter (Mac), Claire Huskisson (Ally Ferris) and Ellen Sussams (Colleen McCain).

Critical reception for the 2009 production was generally good. Paul Vale of The Stage 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.

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