Gabriel Clark to star in Hive North’s The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me at Hope Mill Theatre
Hive North will stage David Drake’s landmark solo play The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre from 10 to 14 February 2026, with Gabriel Clark performing and Adam Zane directing.
First performed in the early 1990s, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me charts a young gay man’s coming of age at the height of the AIDS crisis, moving between intimate memoir and public act of remembrance. Inspired by the activist spirit of Larry Kramer and ACT UP, the piece examines how a community organised, mourned and resisted, asking what it means to turn grief into action and private experience into political change.
Marking the play’s first Manchester staging in more than three decades, this new production will be presented as part of LGBT History Month and to celebrate 40 years of the HIV charity, George House Trust.
The play will star Gabriel Clark, a British-Sardinian actor, writer and director, and the Artistic Director of Switch_MCR Theatre Company. He is best known for playing Ollie Morgan on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks. Following Hollyoaks, Gabriel has worked on productions with the Royal Exchange Theatre, The Octagon, The Edge Theatre, Contact and HOME. Earlier this year, Gabriel played AJ in Hive North’s Jock Night.
The production is directed by Hive North’s founder and Ambassador for George House Trust, Adam Zane, whose credits include appearing in Channel 4’s Queer as Folk and as the writer and director of the acclaimed #BeMoreMartyn: The Boy with the Deirdre Tattoo and Jock Night.
The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me is produced by Mike Lee for Hive North by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing. The production will feature set design by Dick Longdin, lighting design by David Clare and sound design by Hannah Bracegirdle.
Adam Zane said, “I watched David Drake perform The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me over thirty years ago, and it had a huge impact on me as an artist and an activist. Staging this revival is an opportunity to honour a landmark of queer theatre and the activism it speaks to. In a world where LGBTQ+ rights are being eroded daily, it’s a vital reminder of the power of activism and its continuing relevance for audiences today.”
Gabriel Clarke commented, “I was instantly gripped by Drake’s ability to blend a coming-of-age story with the universal feelings of pain, rage, and helplessness in the face of injustice. Those feelings reverberate through the play, and they echo loudly today”
The play runs at Hope Mill Theatre from 10th to 14th February 2026 before transferring to London, with the venue to be announced.