Shakespearean sonnets which are thought to have been written for a man will be played at Hackney’s oldest home to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history month.
This is the first time the National Trust run Sutton House will celebrate LGBT History Month, which was established in 2005 to give visibility to LGBT people and the role these communities have played in history.
Speakers in four of home’s Tudor rooms will broadcast the voices of four people, who identify as LGBT or queer, reading from Shakespeare’s Fair Youth Sonnets.
Volunteer and guest curator Sean Curran, said the language is “ambiguous and suggestive” and hopes the exhibition will raise questions about desire, gender and sexuality.
“Rather than assuming that Shakespeare would be considered part of the LGBT community in contemporary terms, we instead celebrate the universality of desire and the ambiguities of language,” he said.
The exhibition runs from Thursday February 6 to Friday March 7.
Entry to the house costs £3.50 for adults, £1 children and is free for National Trust members.
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