14 February 2014
Activist Bette Bourne helped found the first drag commune (in Seventies London). Born Peter Bourne, to an adoring mum and dangerously unhappy dad, she gave up a career in “straight” acting to create her one-of-a-kind squat. She and the playwright Mark Ravenhill (who co-directed this documentary) explore her story from different angles.
The bit where Bourne recounts inviting her dad to the commune is especially charged; Bourne doesn't really go in for pathos but, because she trusts Ravenhill, we get a lot more than gags. Seek out this double act, if you can: the butch and the bitch (Bette's choice of words), united by a desire to stand tall.
