THEGAYUK

Day: 16 September 2015

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Sum Of Us

    A father who loves and accepts his gay son is the theme of the new play ‘The Sum of Us.’ ★★★★

    In 1994, a young Russell Crowe played the gay son in the movie version of The Sum of Us which was originally staged as a play in New York City in 1990. Now a new version of the play ‘The Sum of Us,’ which has never played in the UK, has just opened at the Above the Stag Theatre in Vauxhall.

    Harry (Sephen Connery-Brown) is a forty-something widower raising his twenty-something young son Jeff (Tim McFarland), who happens be gay. Harry is not bothered about his son being gay, he actually encourages Jeff to go out and meet other guys, to enjoy life while you can while you are young. And Harry doesn’t mind when Jeff brings other guys over to their home. Jeff is good-looking and athletic with a very positive look on life, but he says there’s a space in his heart that is empty, a space that could be filled by another man. When he meets someone he likes (Greg – played by Rory Hawkins), he’s immediately smitten. But it’s Harry who interrupts the two young men who are on the couch getting to know each other. Harry says a bit too much about Jeff, and their close father and son relationship makes Greg feel insecure about his own relationship with his father. Meanwhile Harry, after being a widower for a number of years, also starts dating – he feels like it’s time to get out there and meet another woman. And he does. Her name is Joyce (Annabel Pemberton), and her and Harry are getting on like wildfire. But when she learns that he has a gay son, she just can’t accept this. Firstly she’s angry that Harry didn’t tell her when they started dating, secondly she just can’t accept gay people at all. Even after Harry proposes to her, she just doesn’t want to see him anymore. So thus we have a father and a son who both yearn to be with someone yet obstacles get in their way. And as Harry tells Jeff, he is the sum of us, the sum of him and his late wife, and the sum of his grandparents and great-grandparents. Actually, we are all the sum of us, and this is the message of the play.

    Above the Stag Theatre really sets the bar high on this one. Their previous shows had names such as ‘Rent Boy: The Musical’ and ‘Bathhouse: The Musical.’ However, they have now produced a play that is serious, heartwarming and very well-acted. The Sum of Us is a story that most gay men may not relate to; who can say that their fathers have whole heartedly accepted their homosexuality. But the play, written by David Stevens, who also wrote the film version and the original play version, successfully combines the son’s and father’s search for love and the close relationship they have with each other. And in the end, the message is that we all want someone to love and someone to love us, no matter whether you are gay or straight.

    Connery-Brown is great as Harry, as is McFarland as Jeff. They have a real rapport as father and son, and even resemble each other a bit. Hawkins and Pemberton are fine as the other halves, who may or may not wind up in the men’s lives. The set, down to the details of the1990’s script, cleverly goes from a living room to a park, in this cute theatre that is nice and cozy with a bar to match.

    The Sum of Us is playing at Above the Stag Theatre until October 4th. Tickets can be bought here:

    http://www.abovethestag.com/shows/

    Buy tickets now – it’s selling out fast!

  • Jamie Laing Reveals His Penis Name

    Jamie Laing Reveals His Penis Name

    Okay this is not what we were expecting but the Made In Chelsea star has revealed what he calls his dong.

    During a stint on the E4 dating show Young, Free and Single the Made In Chelsea star was asked what he calls his penis by the programme’s presenter Steve Jones, he replied…

    “Maybe Mercutio?”

     

    I mean who the hell calls their man truneon Mercutio? It’s even odder than what Channing Tatum calls his schlong

  • The Average Retiree Has Under £1500 Saved For Emergencies

    One in four retirees has less than £1,000 available for emergencies, according to new research.

    Research into the finances and lifestyles of 1,000 retired people found the average respondent had just £1,343 put away for emergencies.

    Despite a lifetime of working, more than half the 1,000 retirees studied said they would be “stumped” if they had to pay for unexpected house repairs or specialist medical care.

    And they don’t get long to enjoy their retirement once they stop work. The survey found the ‘retirement glow’ can last up to 13 months – the average time given by respondents before the novelty of being retired wore off.

    Around one in five retired respondents in the poll by financial services giant MetLife said they had less than £500 set aside for unforeseen expenses, while the same number said their day to day finances are far from comfortable.

    A disillusioned one in five retirees said life is much harder after finishing work than they imagined.

    Finances prove the trickiest aspect to manage, while boredom is the second biggest barrier to retirement happiness, results showed.

    Yesterday Dominic Grinstead, Managing Director, MetLife UK said: “It is very worrying that more than half of pensioners would be stumped if they had to find the money for a major bill.

    “Financial emergencies in retirement are a major risk – around one in four say they have suffered financial nightmares which have forced them to cut back.

    “Retirement ought to be a time to relax after a lifetime of working hard but sadly the survey shows the retirement glow does not last long before the money worries return.”

    Just under half of the retirees surveyed said worrying about money was a common occurrence.

    And a fifth said they aren’t financially comfortable day to day.

    Perhaps that’s why one in ten retired people in relationships fall out with their partner over money worries- with the rising cost of energy bills the most likely item to provoke an argument, followed by spending on food/grocery items.

    While more than half of those polled were unsure as to whether they could cope should they be faced with a big unforeseen expense such as healthcare costs or home repairs.

    In fact, one in seven said they simply wouldn’t be able to cope with any unexpected increase in their expenditure.

    The average respondent was found to be living on £297 a week, yet one in eight were getting by on less than £100 per week.

    And unforeseen expenditures really take their toll- as many as a quarter had experienced a ‘financial nightmare’ which threw their finances into disarray.

    More than a quarter of the 1,000 retirees polled said their standard of living had decreased since retiring.

    Just 12 per cent said life had got better since quitting work, while six in ten notice no change in quality of life either way.

    Dominic Grinstead added: “Pensioners need certainty in retirement and flexibility with their finances so they can cope with unexpected bills and have some spare money to enjoy themselves too.

    “That is why we have designed our new Retirement Portfolio to deliver a guaranteed income for life which can increase depending on stock market performance while enabling people to dip into their savings if they need to.