The Unforgivable Crime of Love is the true story of two gay men who were put into a concentration camp in World War 2 and what happens when the love of your life is the one person who you are forbidden to love. Les Kurkendaal-Barrett speaks with FringeReview’s Dr.Pants on his new one man show filled with themes of resistance and hope. It is on between Oct 24 – Nov 1st during Colchester Fringe.
NAP: Hello Les! It is an honor to interview you again for FringeReview. The Real Black Swann is one of my favourite fringe shows of all time. I’m excited to see you return to history for this new project. What is your new show about?
LKB: It’s the true story of Reed Peggram . Black American Scholar who moves to Paris in 1938 . He falls in love with Arne Hauptman , a white artist from Denmark . They are captured and sent to a concentration camp because they are gay . They fought racism . They fought homophobia . They fought the Nazis . They did everything that they could to ensure that their love would survive . But was love enough?
NAP: Where did first hear this story? Why did you want to bring it to the stage?
LKB: I have heard that there were Black Americans who survived the holocaust and so I started googling and this story popped up . And the fact that this was an interracial queer couple made me instantly intrigued. This is the story about a queer person who was literally imprisoned because of their sexuality and the lengths that they went to in order to survive . This is a very important story that needs to be told.
The Unforgivable Crime of Love excavates a largely forgotten piece of Black queer history. At its center is Reed Peggram, a brilliant young Black gay American whose extraordinary story of race, sexuality, love and survival has been almost erased from history. Rather than telling another familiar story from the Second World War, the show asks audiences to experience that history through a Black queer man who was there, loved there, and survived it.
NAP: And like The Real Black Swann, I get the sense it’s also your story as well? You’ve interwoven these two worlds together of history and performer.
LKB: There’s danger. There’s racism. There’s sex. There’s humor. There’s heartbreak. And there are moments in Reed’s story that are almost impossible to believe actually happened.
And woven through his story is mine: a Black gay man, decades later, asking how much the world has really changed and what it costs to love openly when society would rather you disappear.
NAP: This is your second show that you have written about a black historical figure who we don’t know about. Is this becoming a trend for you? Can we expect a third piece in a trilogy?
LKB: I thing these are stories that need to be told . There is so much history that is being white washed and I feel that is my duty as a black gay storyteller to tell these tales so they don’t go away
NAP: You (and your son!) have won multiple awards at Colchester Fringe. The people love your work. Other than that, is there another reason you returned to Colchester?
LKB: I love performing at Colchester Fringe . I now have a history with the fringe and I enjoy the audiences there. It’s a brand new show as a matter of fact Colchester will be the World Premiere and so I am a little nervous. So I am honestly worried about getting it finished in time to put on a good show .
NAP: This show is rooted in history, but of course, the hope of any good art is it reflects something about today. What are you hoping audiences take away from this piece?
LKB: I hope audiences leave my show moved, but also changed by having discovered a story they probably never knew.
I want them to feel the injustice of what Reed Peggram endured as a Black queer man, but I don’t want them to leave seeing him only as a victim. I want them to remember his humanity, his courage, his desire to love and be loved, and the life he fought to have in a world that kept telling him that who he was was unacceptable.
Most of all, I want people to leave thinking about how many people like Reed have been erased from history. I want them to feel that telling these stories matters.
‘The Unforgivable Crime of Love’ is on Sat 24 October 4:00 pm, Sun 25 October 6:00 pm, Wed 28 October 8:30 pm, Thu 29 October 7:00 pm, Fri 30 October 7:00 pm, and Sun 1 November 3:00 pm during Colchester Fringe. While you’re here, read about our coverage of others shows at this year’s Colchester Fringe including about a one man King Arthur, Shakespeare’s least known play, or FringeReview’s resident interviewer Dr.Pant’s (a play in a) DARK ROOM.
