The House, The Boys and The Trial – Parr Hall, Warrington

Soup Productions presented The House, The Boys and The Trial at the stunning Parr Hall in Warrington. Written by the talented Michael Pirks the play depicts the true story from 1806 where twenty-four men In Warrington and surrounding areas were arrested for homosexual offences. Where five men were convicted of buggery who regularly assembled at the home of Isaac Hitchin (Andy McQuoid), where they engaged in sex and called each other ‘Brother’, and kept assignations at the shop of Holland, a well-off pawnbroker. The ‘Hitchin’s House’ allowed men to be free from judgement and engage in sexual activity and companionship from the eyes of the law where sodomy was deemed as illegal and punished by death!

It is clear that Pirks has done extensive research on the trial and displayed this exquisitely in his script, the plot centred around Charlie Baxter (Josh Hopson) a 21 year old naive homosexual man who was just entering the world of sexual exploration as a gay man with a chance meeting of Jacques Milano (Marcus Cameron) a French social rebellion who engaged in cross dressing to perform theatrically – The Chevalier d’Eon who lived as both a man and a woman in the 1800’s.

Men lived lives as married men but were entrapped by society to be heterosexual regardless of their desires to be who they really were and their love of the same sex. The play displays the torment that gay men endured to live law abiding and by biblical scriptures under the torment of being driven to secrecy about their real desires.

The strong cast of thirteen delivered a sterling performance guiding the audience through an array of emotions, the display of intimacy was palpable from the gentle caresses of Charlie and Jacques to the animal instincts and transactional sex of Gregory Fishwick (Mike Ridd) and his prostitute lover Thomas Rix (Harry Twining) all under the protection of The Hitchen’s House.

The staging was basic but effective with the use of projectors behind enhancing the setting and era, and the costumes were authentic for the 1800’s.

Pirks writing always astounds me, I have been honoured to review two previous plays of his and I am always blown away by his genius mind and ability to write such powerful scripts! This production of ‘The House, The Boys and The Trial’ was powerful and hard hitting and actually brought me to tears (which is very unusual as a seasoned reviewer) as the story was overwhelming and heartbreaking that this really happened to men in my hometown of Warrington. Twenty-four men were hanged for being who they were and loving someone of the same sex and left on display for weeks as a deterrent to others, which is just heartbreaking and such an injustice, I am so grateful that in my lifetime people are able to love who they wish to love regardless of gender and how society is accepting of love being love in whatever form.

Special mention to Andy McQuoid who was outstanding throughout and to Josh Hopson for their performances, as I was completely absorbed by their naturalistic and believable depiction of their characters. The whole cast gave a commendable delivery, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them display the wonderful script of Michael Pirks.

Both my 17-year-old companion and I left with a heavy heart of injustice but have the upmost admiration for the men who lost their lives for being true to themselves. Mike Pirks has delicately but powerfully written a formidable play to represent the historical event of 1806!

Well done to all involved and I look forward to reviewing his next performance of ‘Checkout’ on the 5^th of July at St John’s Uniformed Church Hall.

Reviewer: Katie Leicester

Reviewed: 28th June 2025

North West End UK Rating: