My tour of Shanghai’s ‘very gay’ art scene with Russell Tovey, Talk Art podcast host
- While art hopping in Shanghai and curating a David Hockney show, podcaster and LGBTQ icon Russell Tovey promotes dialogue and understanding
It is June 18 and the start of the monsoon season in Shanghai. I find myself crammed inside a taxi crawling through traffic from the Pudong district to trendy Anfu Road. I glance at my fellow passenger, the British film star and podcast host Russell Tovey. This is not your everyday cab ride.
I am crackling with excitement as I prepare to whisk him off along with a few friends on a whirlwind art-hopping adventure through Shanghai. It is Tovey’s first time in mainland China (he went to Hong Kong 20 years ago) and I decide to give him a tour of the vibrant local art scene.
The actor, who is gay and out, first came to fame two decades ago as a star in the original cast of both the stage and film versions of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.
In China he has garnered a loyal following, especially through his portrayal of a werewolf in the BBC series Being Human (2008-12). In Mandarin, he is affectionately known as Xiaolang (Little Wolf).
“It’s very clean and futuristic,” he says of his first impression of Pudong, as we are stuck in traffic.
