by Tom Marshman

The Island (Bristol)

September  2018

Technical Production Management
Lighting Design

In the early 1950s 17-year-old Geoffrey Patrick Williamson was on the Exeter to Bristol train when he got into a conversation with another man, who was also travelling in his train compartment and accused Geoffrey of making ‘improper approaches’ . The other man was a Railway Officer, in plain clothes. Geoffrey was arrested at the next stop, Taunton. When questioned, Williamson revealed the names of men he had had sex with, beginning a domino effect of arrests, prison, aversion therapy and suicide.

A Haunted Existence highlights the turmoil, stigma and heartbreak of this experience by weaving together history and hearsay to tell the story of Britain’s very recent, shameful past.