University News Last updated 08 May
An electropop musical about tennis, co-created by a researcher at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), is going on a national tour, including to Wimbledon.
Fairlight reimagines the sport’s 160-year history as a queer love story to challenge the shame and invisibility of LGBTQ+ athletes in sporting culture.
Performed at tennis clubs across the country, the musical will also be hosted at Wimbledon Park Tennis Courts during the 2026 Championships.
Professor Michael Wolters, Professor of Composition at RBC is artistic director and composer of Fairlight. He explained why the musical is so important.
“I want to give visibility to the existence of the cycle of silence in professional tennis by providing a celebratory narrative for LGBTQ+ athletes,” Professor Wolters said.
“To make impactful art, we have to take it out of traditional creative spaces and to where it’s needed most.
“Ultimately, Fairlight transforms tennis courts into spaces of activism, reclaiming history to foster a more inclusive future for global sport.”
Alexandra Taylor, artistic director and writer of Fairlight, explained why they chose electropop as the music genre for the show.
“The house belonging to Augurio Perera, where he and Harry Gem invented lawn tennis is called Fairlight, the same name as the world’s first commercially available sampler,” Alexandra said.
“The connection between tennis history and 80s synthpop was too obvious to ignore!”
Despite 160 years of history, it wasn’t until 2025 that the ATP Tour featured an active openly gay man – Brazil’s João Lucas Reis da Silva - in a Grand Slam, highlighting the enduring barriers for LGBTQ+ men in elite sport.
The songs are interwoven with accounts of Victorian prosecutions of gay men, demonstrations of the rules of lawn tennis and interviews with current LGBTQ+ tennis professionals.
“The activism of Fairlight is in every element: story, music, movement, text, performance, interviews, setting,” Alexandra added.
“By combining these we are prompting the audience to think more deeply on a topic they perhaps haven’t considered before.”
This project is aiming to transform tennis from a country-club reputation into a globally inclusive space, which can increase participation amongst all marginalised groups.
Tej Brindley stars as Harry Gem in Fairlight and graduated from RBC with an MA in Acting in 2024. He says the musical is an opportunity to draw attention to the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in elite sport.
“As a gay man and an RBC alumnus, I am always on the lookout for local projects that will mean something to me personally,” said Tej.
“There’s not enough representation in elite sport, especially for gay men, and I’m hoping this musical draws attention to the issue whilst also having a positive impact on all players in the future.
“I hope the audience take away the huge contribution that Harry, Augurio, and Birmingham have made towards the game of tennis.”
The tour runs from 13 May – 22 August 2026, starting at Edgbaston Archery & Lawn Tennis Society. Buy tickets here.