Wilkinson Quartet Benefits Amnesty UK

The theatrical quartet, Disparate Bodies, by award-winning playwright Linda Wilkinson, will see its world premiere at a special, one-night, West End engagement in support of Amnesty International's Get Up Sign Up! campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The performance will take place Sunday, 10 May at the Albery Theatre.

The evening of theatre, produced and directed by Shevaun Wilder, takes an intensely moving, erotic and sometimes humourous look at the way gays, lesbians and transsexuals survive in a volatile, dangerous and often hostile world. It also presents a challenging and compassionate view of all natures of sexual orientation and prejudice.

Set in Istanbul in 1996, the first play in the quartet, Let Eating Dogs..., portrays one woman's struggle for survival, as part of the transsexual community, in a shadowy world where corruption, fraud and abuse abound. The second play, Alchemy, set in Prague 1997, is a solo piece and was first commissioned for Prague's Apriles Festival. As the first play about lesbianism ever to be performed in the Czech Republic, it caused a sensation in the Czech theatrical and media world. The third play, The Decadent Menagerie, set amidst the splendour and riches of Tuscany, introduces a world of sexual scandal and excess with the enigmatic Contessa and her collection of beautiful young men at its heart. In Disparate Bodies, the final piece, set in Italy, the separate worlds of the characters converge and their attitudes and assumptions are exposed and challenged.

Wilkinson is the recent winner of the first Writers' Guild of Great Britain's Theatre Showcase and a member of Amnesty International UK's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Network.

Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, declares that 'All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection from the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.'

Amnesty International promises an 'all-star cast' for the performance. Casting is currently taking place and details are expected in the coming weeks. Booking for the night opens 30 March 1998.

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