Gay London Life | Jan '25 Edition - Magazine - Page 16
Private
Lives
A new adaptation of the Air Force
romance Firebird is heading to
London next year
Sometimes when a story’s so good, it just needs to
Fetisov’s time as a private in the Air Force in Soviet-
Mountain. The King’s Head Theatre has form when
be told again and again.
occupied Estonia and his relationship with a new
it comes to bringing historic queer stories to life on
fighter pilot called Roman. The 1970s weren’t
stage, so Firebird looks set to be an early theatrical
Fetisov, but just under thirty years later, Estonian
exactly the most tolerant decade when it came to
highlight of 2025.
director Peeter Rebane turned it into a film, which
homosexuality (particularly in the USSR), so this
premiered at the BFI Flare Film Festival in 2021. Next
love affair was carried out in secret.
Firebird began as a memoir written by Sergey
year, it’s hitting the stage for the first time with a run
of shows at King’s Head Theatre.
The story itself is unchanged — it recounts
16
Director Owen Lewis is taking charge of this
Thursday 9th January to
Sunday 9th February,
latest adaptation of a moving tale that’s been
King’s Head Theatre,
likened in the past to a Soviet version of Brokeback
116 Upper Street, N1 1QN. Nearest Station: Angel