Acclaimed author Armistead Maupin will be in conversation with long-time friend Sir Ian McKellen, as part of the National Theatre’s Authors on Stage series.
The pair, who have known each other for many decades, will discuss Maupin’s long career as a stalwart of American popular culture since the 1970s.
His series Tales of the City began as a column in the San Francisco Chronicle and became a number of novels spanning the lives of the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Having been made into a TV series in the 1990s, it was given a new life on Netflix with Laura Linney and Ellen Page in lead roles.
The conversation on March 18 will cover stories, observations and discussion about their involvement in LGBTQ+ activism.
McKellen read an emotional coming out letter from Michael Tolliver – one of Maupin’s most loved characters – at a Letters Live event in 2016, and also revealed that Maupin was the one who persuaded him to come out in 1988.
Maupin is fresh from his 2019 tour, where he made an appearance as part of London Literature Festival.
This conversation will be one of three in the series. Other talks include How To Fail author Elizabeth Day interviewing Mark Gatiss and the already announced Evening with Sir Michael Parkinson.
Tickets are available at nationaltheatre.org.uk
