The Real Poems
Written and performed by Robert McQueen
Composition and Arrangement by Laura Burton
Directed by Andrew Kushnir
Dramaturgy by Damien Atkins

Co-creators: 
Robert McQueen, Laura Burton, Damien Atkins, Andrew Kushnir

From inside the lockdowns of 2020, Robert McQueen sat at his kitchen table and wrote about his experiences as a young queer man, living between Vancouver and New York during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 90s. The Real Poems is at once spoken witness to the joy of youth and a memorial to the lives of colleagues, lovers and friends lost. An audience Q&A will follow the final performance.

The Real Poems was first produced as part of the 2022 Here for Now season in Stratford.