THEGAYUK

Day: 18 February 2018

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Girls and Boys, Royal Court Theatre

    THEATRE REVIEW | Girls and Boys, Royal Court Theatre

    ★★★★☆ | Girls & Boys, Royal Court Theatre

    Any play that starts out with the line ‘I met my husband in the queue to board an Easyjet flight and I have to say that I took an instant dislike to the man’ you know you’re going to be hooked. And that’s how Girls & Boys pulls you in a tight grip and never let’s go.

    It’s not just the sharp dialogue that grabs your attention, it’s also the way it’s delivered, by the super famous actor Carey Mulligan. And she’s solo for the entire show – a one-woman show about her character’s relationship with the man she met at the airport, their life together, which produced two children, and then, as nothing in life is totally perfect, the relationship with her husband breaks down, but that’s not the end of it. An unspeakable tragedy happens, and by this time Mulligan and Girls & Boys has sucked us in, and doesn’t let go. It’s heartwrenching and heartbreaking.
    Mulligan IS terrific. She flits back and forth from delivering the monologue directly to the audience but then jumps into a scene in the show, in her white living room – devoid of colour, and life. There she plays with her two children, but they are actually not there, they are invisible but a reminder that her past life was full of love and life, but is now full of emptiness. Mulligan reminisces about a life that was to good to be true, and it was.
    Mulligan, star of the recent critically acclaimed film Mudbound, is a formidable presence on the stage. You forget she’s a famous actress because you get wrapped up in the story, of her telling of it, as she wraps and grasps the audience in the story. A tight sharp script by Dennis Kelly and crisp direction by Lyndsey Turner make this 90 minute show a must see, unfortunately, it’s sold out for its entire run.
     

  • COMMENT | Just because you can’t see disability, doesn’t mean it’s not there

    The writing is on the toilet door.

    On a recent visit to a supermarket, I was caught short and had to avail myself of their facilities. I chose what was previously known as the ‘disabled toilet’. There was a double whammy of relief as on approach there was a sign on the door which read “Not every disability is visible, Accessible Toilet.”

    Now I can walk in and leave a toilet without the guilt I previously had when people would say either under their breath or with an accusatory tone, “What’s his disability; he can walk alright?”

    These are no longer disabled toilets, which in itself is grammatically incorrect as the toilet does not have a disability as implied but its user. They are accessible toilets and show a man, woman and wheelchair user.

    I have diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, and an enlarged prostate.

    In the past I have stood at a urinal desperate to urinate and not a drop would pass; waiting, lingering and straining to the point of arousing the suspicion of other users as to my purpose. Not a pleasant experience, humiliating, embarrassing, and making me potentially vulnerable to abuse.

    “The other conditions are unpredictable and an urgency to use the bowel can be unpleasant in a public place. This can be an uncivilised theatrical event of some duration, accompanied with my crying out in pain”

    The other conditions are unpredictable, and an urgency to use the bowel can be unpleasant in a public place. This can be an uncivilised theatrical event of some duration, accompanied with my crying out in pain, voluminous flatulent sound effects and a pebble dashing with force, not dissimilar to the noise of emptying a coal bucket into a fireplace.

    Dignity has long since been lost, and I have over the years adopted an approach of making fun of myself. In a motorway service station (and you know how busy they are) all fell silent at the sound of ‘parking my breakfast.’ I heard myself saying “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”, and rapturous laughter followed.

    Now I can suffer and recover some composure in privacy before re-emerging, and the handrail is bloody useful when getting back up these days, damned arthritis!

  • Britney Spears wants something from out Olympian Gus Kenworthy

    And we’re so here for that.

    So what does she want? MORE…

    Imagine in your wildest dreams, Britney Spears even noticing that you’re alive, let alone Tweeting you lyrics to one of her most iconic songs…

    We die.

    Well, this is exactly what happened to out Olympian, Gus Kenworthy.

    Taking to Twitter, Britney Spears tweeted the Olympian, “So proud of #TeamUSA!! Hey @guskenworthy, gimme, gimme more on the slopes today!! #ItsGusBitch”

    Gus, quite rightly lost his shiz over the Tweet, replying,

    “Oh. My. God. Was really not prepared to wake up to this. Not sure how I’m gonna ski today because I’m LITERALLY dead now but I’m gonna go that extra mile for you, Britney! Ilysm!!!”