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Layla: A Joyful Exploration of Identity

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As the new year begins, Birr Theatre & Arts Centre is thrilled to unveil part 1 of its 2025 Film@BirrTheatre season, promising a captivating lineup of screenings that will warm your soul during the winter chill. From critically acclaimed dramas and thought-provoking documentaries to foreign language adventures and indie gems, this season's selection celebrates the power of storytelling on the big screen. Whether you're a film enthusiast or simply looking for a cozy night out, join us for an unforgettable cinematic journey that will inspire, entertain, and spark meaningful conversations.


It’s Pride month, and Layla, a non-binary Arab drag performer, has been booked to perform

at a “diversity” event for a ready-meal company. The money is good, and they’re excited to bring their work to a new audience - but the corporate event is completely hollow, with the clientele seemingly more willing to support the rights of packeted Udon noodles than trans people. Layla is little more than a visual token of acceptance at an otherwise profoundly vapid event. And when, after suffering a series of belittling encounters, Layla discovers they’re only being paid in ready meal tokens, they turn their performance into a radical satire of the whole event that leaves the guests shellshocked.



In spite of his professional loyalties, MAX, a white cis-gender gay man who works for the company organising the event, is bewitched. As Layla makes a rapid exit, they bump into Max and the two unexpectedly hit it off - Layla ends up bringing Max to a queer sci-fi party that their close-knit crew are hosting. For Max it is like coming into a world of queerness he’s never had access to. When around someone like Layla, Max feels like he’s able to inhabit a totally new liberated persona. And so the pair begin an unlikely romance, much to the discomfort of Layla’s friends who have seen Layla chase men like Max before. Despite their seeming confidence and command on stage, Layla also has a complex yearning for acceptance and is thrilled to win the affection of a conventional “white knight” like Max. Desperate for approval from their family, and faced with the barriers of race, privilege, gender and class between them, Layla begins ditching their heels and opting for cargo pants in a bid to seem more compatible to Max’s life. Max, initially hypnotised by Layla’s unabashed queerness, begins to overanalyse all his previously unexamined decisions in life, triggering his own internal crisis.



As their relationship strains under these pressures, both Layla and Max will be forced to face up to the things really holding each of them back – for Max, his unchecked privilege and the numbing of his true self in order to meet societal expectation, and for Layla, to realise they don’t need to change themself in order to be worthy of love.


Book your tickets below and join us on Thursday 23 January at 8pm for the first Film@BirrTheatre instalment of 2025.


Run time: 98 minutes Cert: 18+



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