Featured Post

Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

Image
If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Passing through: Rotterdam @Rotterdamplay @Theatre503


Rotterdam is a unique and hilarious story about gender, sexuality and life abroad by playwright Jon Brittain. It is made even more memorable by the strong and tender performances by the leads.

It’s having its world premiere at Theatre503, which is continuing to nurture original new writing in London. It has to be the first “gay play” or perhaps the first "lesbian transgender comedy" in a long time to explore something that feels like real characters.

The premise is that it is approaching New Year in Rotterdam and Alice has finally worked up enough courage to come out to her parents and tell them that she is gay and living with her girlfriend Fiona. But the email is never sent as Fiona reveals that he has identified as a man and wants to start living as a man named Adrian.

While Adrian starts transitioning Alice now has to decide what this means for her, and does that mean she is now straight? Meanwhile a Dutch girl in her office has her eye on Alice and wants to make a connection.

The piece is a wonderful character study that unfolds to explore real emotions and practicalities. It also gets the balance right between the seriousness of the subject matter and laugh out loud comedy. It even feels like you have been given a glimpse of life in this port city.

As Alice and Fiona/Adrian, Alice McCarthy and Anna Martine create a warmth and chemistry together that brings out the humour and the heartbreak of the piece. There is also an excellent performance from the blokey Ed Eales-White and whose relationship with both women is a crucial part of the story.

Jessica Clark as the local office girl Lelani is also funny as the girl who gets Alice to look at her life and the world around her.

It is also a lesson in gender fluidity that seems fairly topical these days - particularly if you are transitioning from male to female. And it feels like this could be destined for a much bigger future.

Rotterdam is playing at Theatre 503 and runs until 21 November. The piece was also a seed commission for Theatre503’s 503 Five New Writing Scheme in 2012/13. Don’t miss it.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

First impressions with @johnnyfoxlondon follows...

Photo credit: Production photos by Piers Foley Photography

Popular posts from this blog

Opera and full frontal nudity: Rigoletto

Image
David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understan
Read more...

Fantasies: Afterglow @Swkplay

Image
Nowadays no self-respecting gay play can be staged without full frontal nudity of some kind. It feels like the default response for the modern gay play now that gay rights are no longer an issue .   Afterglow, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse , serves it up in spades. From the beginning, three men are in a bed, naked. There’s what appears to be a very brief exhalation of ecstasy, before the obligatory rush to the shower. But the gratuitous nudity and excellent performances can’t conceal this is a pretty conventional and predictable story about a fantasy couple.  The three men in the simultaneous orgasm at the start of the piece are Josh, Alex and Darius. Josh and Alex seem to live in a New York world where they can afford a rooftop apartment in Manhattan while holding jobs as a theatre director and a grad student in chemistry. As writer S. Asher Gelman based it on his own experiences, perhaps gay plays with full frontal nudity are the way to achieve financial security
Read more...

Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

Image
Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre is one hell of a fun, sexy show. A great cast of dancers and singers give this show about a man who sells his soul to get on his beloved baseball team (and give them a chance of winning) new legs and balls. It also helps to up the ante with the sexiness with some healthy doses of cleavage and legs (and that's just the men). The musical is a retelling of the Faust story set in the 1950s when the New York Yankees dominated the game.
Read more...