JOCK NIGHT - REVIEW - SEVEN DIALS PLAYHOUSE

The party’s in full-swing at Ben’s flat, fuelled & sustained by a potent cocktail mix of chemical friends G (gamma-hydroxybutyrate), T(crystal meth) & MKat. The bed is central and the sex is unmitigated, a roundelay of partners & positions. The mandate is to prolong the blowout indefinitely, gratification paramount. PrEP (as a protectant against HIV) is an absolute requirement. Undetectable status (in which viral loads are undetectable and unable to be transmitted) must be maintained. Writer/director Adam Zane’s script following the fortunes (and occasional downfalls) of a quintet of Mancunian club boys is unapologetically hedonistic and uninhibited, expecting to be met with open mind and understanding heart. The prudish & judgemental need not attend. Although fictional, Zane constructed his material around conversations he had with LBGTQI+ organisations and denizens of the Manchester club scene, taking the pulse of current issues & concerns within the community. The characters may be composites of interviewees, but Zane and his exceptional cast bring them to full, fearless, vivid individual life. Humour-rude, crude, raucous-is in abundance. Jock straps and leather halters are the wardrobe choice. Naked bums are defiantly on display (the cast has worked overtime on their toning).

Structured around four jock night club events across a six-month period, from June through December, Zane charts the shifting alliances and relationships of the group of men, stalwarts Ben, Russ & Kam and newbies AJ and Simon. Defined & linked by their pursuit of pleasure and fondness for drugs, the old friends are mostly content in their unquestioning dynamic of shared experience, comfortably sleeping with multiple partners and engaging in orgies. It is Ben, the oldest of the bunch, who is experiencing a slow shift in perspective, drifting towards the idea of a more stable relationship. David Paisley, with his powerfully physical presence, imbues Ben with a contrasting-and beguilingly gentle- melancholic, wounded edge, his sensitive eyes registering a vast bewilderment. With quiet strength, he bears the responsibility for the others, looking after them as best he can. Great comedy is derived from the blank-eyed reactions from the younger guys to Ben’s references to classic Julie Walters and Victoria Wood routines. Sam Goodchild as Kam excels at the caustic quip, his quicksilver, outlandish wit provoking some of the biggest laughs of the evening. A devotee of Coronation Street in all its flamboyant flourish and commemoration of its long-suffering but resilient female characters, Kam lives life at full-throttle. Goodchild makes it clear Kam is one step ahead of everyone else, the smartest and canniest of them all, even through the chemical haze. Yet it’s a raw, precarious self-awareness. Matthew Gent’s dim but lovable Russell, coasting with simple euphoria and uncomplicated agenda through the proceedings, is the story’s sweet soul, although a late-scene, end-of-party revelation startles with its deep well of anguish, insight and regret, beautifully delivered by Gent. Levi Payne’s AJ provides a fresh, innocent angle, the possibility of clear-eyed, straightforward sex, without the traps of stimulants. It is George Hughes’s Simon/Hunter character (“not a porn star, but a porn performer”, as the group refers to him) who comes closest to being villainous, calculating in his desire to upset balance. He is duplicitous, secretive, selfish-and perhaps the most lost and in pain, staring out at an incomprehensible world. Even so, Zane does not abandon him to mere scoundrel, allowing him an opportunity for redemption.

Perhaps Zane’s greatest achievement is in convincing an audience to care greatly for a group of men who don’t always care too much for themselves. A viewer is unable to deny the humanity of any of the characters, best and worst instincts on display. Through all the seemingly superficial play, stronger connections have been imperceptibly building, almost unbeknownst to the participants. By the end, the men have been able to define themselves for themselves, quite outside heteronormative pressures or indeed pressures from within their own gay circle. No matter if things don’t last, what matters is that they are fine right now, Ben concludes wisely. Zane & his cast have seen to the spectrum of experience and behaviour without resorting to criticism or moralising, just respectful observance. Some major, disruptive late-term developments cause a bit of emotional whiplash but are understandable from a purely narrative drive for dramatic effect. There is the mature resistance to conclude on an entirely tidy note, suspension maintained.

The soundtrack surges with pop divas and dance anthems, irresistible declarations of self-belief and freedom, the music encapsulating the hopes and desires of these questing men.

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
by Tom Carrao
The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe. The play opens … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
by Amy Rye
Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and goes awry, disastrously so. The meta-comedy is filled with slapstick comedy, sometimes the humour may be predictable and silly, but it’s universally funny throughout – there is something for everyone here, and the laughs come thick and fast … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
by George Rennie
Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, High Tide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and more lightweight, with conventional structures, predictable plot twists and an over-reliance on external forces to drive narrative shoring up some of the less relatable aspects of the genre. Nicola Werenowska’s The Beach House, perhaps the cleanest of the three tales, tells of a mother and … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
by Jenny Skuse
Drum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with some success. The costuming is fun and vibrant, with the ugly stepsisters’ equine pyjamas and hoop-skirted ball gowns giving all the wrong kinds of extra you need for those characters. Cinderella’s on stage dress transformation is magical and really well-timed. The Dame, Lady Jelly-Bottom’s, outfits … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
INTERVIEW – LINUS KARP – DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY
by Amy Rye
Amy catches up with Linus Karp ahead of his performance of Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, at London’s Clapham Grand. Linus and Joseph of Awkward Productions are also the masterminds behind the new show Gwyneth Goes Skiing. Hello Your Majesty/ Candle Entrepreneur, how are you feeling coming back from a hugely successful fringe and triumphant tour across your kingdom, ahead of performing in front of 700 of your loyal subjects, and before (the list never ends!) opening a brand new show, which has recently gone viral? Exhausted, exhilarated and alive. We’ve had the most ridiculous year – I feel … More INTERVIEW – LINUS KARP – DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY