THEGAYUK

Category: Review

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Smashed by Gandini Juggling, Udderbelly, London

    ★★★ | Smashed by Gandini Juggling, Udderbelly, London

    A mix of circus and theatre, inspired by the work of choreographer Pina Bausch, Smashed is a series of nostalgic filmic scenes exploring conflict, lost love and quaint afternoon tea.

    After a day hard at work, an hour of juggling felt like a daunting prospect for me and I imagined it could become tedious after the first 15 minutes, picturing tired old Covent Garden street performers. I was wrong, however, as Smashed is more of a tongue in cheek, contemporary dance show with a lot of juggling and a hell of a lot of apples. At times surreal and absurdist, at others cheesy and at others bizarre yet comical, this is quite a fun show. The troupe has awesome timing and is eminently skillful. As a person who can barely catch one ball or walk straight, I have to admire anyone who can juggle, never mind some of the mind bending routines involving weaving in and out, shared juggling and cross over hands. I won’t spoil the surprises by revealing the full repertoire. Whilst this may not suit everyone’s tastes due to its absurdist and darkly camp nature, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    The venue is a rare treat too: a giant inflatable, purple, upside-down cow on The Southbank? What’s not to like?

    The line-up for this year’s Udderbelly Festival is varied as usual and the amazing Speigeltent (a vintage wooden, mirrored tent that has hosted Marlene, Judy and Noel Coward to name but a few) lands in May with a stunning line-up of cabaret, burlesque, comedy and more. It’s well worth checking out and the line-up includes Limbo (the show so fantastic that Madonna saw it twice), the hilarious Zoe Lyons and Tina C, Burlesque from House of Burlesque and The Black Cat Cabaret and the indescribably brilliant boy-lesque of Briefs.

    http://smashedjuggling.com/ runs till 8th of May 2014
    Explore the Udderbelly program through till the 13th of July https://www.underbelly.co.uk/udderbelly-festival-at-southbank-centre
    Explore the London Wonderground program from 7th of May through to the 28th of September 2014 here: https://www.londonwonderground.co.uk/

  • THEATRE REVIEW | On Tidy Endings / Safe Sex, Tristan Bates Theatre

    ★★★★ | On Tidy Endings / Safe Sex, Tristan Bates Theatre

    Whose loss is it anyway? That’s the bone of contention between a gay man and a straight woman who meet to straighten up loose ends following the death of the man they both loved.

    The UK premiere of Harvey Fierstein’s one-act, On Tidy Endings, is a sometimes fiercely funny and finally poignant study of how the universal situation of losing a loved one takes on unique new qualities in the context of AIDS.

    Another short from Fierstein’s Safe Sex Trilogy, Safe Sex explores a relationship under strain in the early part of the AIDS crisis, with comic effect.

    Starring Deena Payne (Emmerdale, Calendar Girls) and CJ de Mooi (Eggheads), On Tidy Endings is a witty and well-written play which is a strong vehicle for Fierstein’s unique brand of irreverent humour with the killer one-liners and feistiness you’d expect from his work. It’s a cunning play, luring the viewer in with gentle humour and mild pathos, only to deliver some discretely timed knockout punches. Safer Sex is a more whimsical piece but still has merit and is entertaining, if slightly absurd in places. Anyone familiar with Torch Song Trilogy will see shades of Arnold in both Ghee, the over dramatic and neurotic partner and Arthur, the bereaved gay lover of Collin.

    Anyone who might be home at teatime may be familiar with C J de Mooi (a self-invented name, apparently meaning beautiful one!), the slightly pompous and prissy seeming figure, famous for a dramatic outburst on The Weakest Link and as quiz expert on Eggheads. Having seen him on TV, I was puzzled by the concept of him as a serious actor in the plays but managed to suspend disbelief and was pleasantly surprised. Whilst he’s not going to be winning any BAFTA awards any time soon, he managed to fulfil the roles adequately. Deena Payne and Cole Michaels as his co-stars, give strong and naturalistic performances which offset some of his limitations as a performer.

    The wealth of culture which came from the AIDS crisis is a great heritage and one which is well worth continually re-examining and reviving, especially in our more complacent times where HIV prevention is less prominent on the agenda. These two plays are well worth checking out.

    The production supports The Make a Difference Trust which raises money from the entertainment industry to support people living with HIV and AIDS. and those in the entertainment industry facing hardship as a result of living with long term conditions.

    The plays run until the 17th of May

    Buy tickets here:
    http://www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/safe_sex.asp
    Check out The Make a Difference Trust and their work here: http://www.madtrust.org.uk/

  • Ding dong; times up – My time with 28GaysLater

    I never know how to start an article. Do you start off on a good point? A question? A statement or even a show stopper? You want something that grabs attention while at the same time doesn’t scare people or make them think that you’re a bit of a nutter. Having said that, I do like the nutter route therefore this month’s opening statement is “Speed Dating – is it misunderstood?”★★★★

    (more…)

  • FILM REVIEW | In The Name Of

    Father Adam is the pastor of a minute parish in the hinterlands of Poland where he has opened a centre for ‘difficult’ teenage ex-reformatory boys. In this bleak countryside he, and his lay helper Michel, have fashioned their small group of unruly charges into almost responsible young men.

    They play football, go swimming and work together but despite his firm control over them, there is always this underlying feeling that tempers could rail up over the slightest excuse at any time, and so there is always a veiled threat of potential violence.

    There is little to do in this remote hamlet and Michel’s bored and neglected wife puts the moves of a rather shaken Adam. When he rejects her advances, he does so by explaining it is because he is ‘already taken’, which we assume refers to his Catholic vow of celibacy, and it isn’t until the second part of the story we realise its because he is not attracted to woman at all.

    Adam is always focused on being in control, but when he rushes to the defence of Lukasz a local boy who does odd jobs at the Center on two different occasions, it starts becoming apparent that despite his intentions he has deeper feelings for him. Lukasz is a good-natured young man whose usual silence at first seems to indicate sullenness, but in fact it is he who shows the lonely Priest warmth and openness that green lights what is to follow.

    Before this can happen, Adam tries desperately to repress his feelings by resorting to his old habit of getting rip-roaring drunk on his own, and he turns up the some rock music very loud and dances around the kitchen clutching a picture of the Pope as a partner. If it wasn’t for the fact that he is such a deeply unhappy man, it would be a very funny scene indeed.

    Michel suspects something is amiss and tells the Bishop who lets slip that he had already had to forcibly transfer Adam from his last position. Despite the remarkable success that Adam has made of the Center, his position is considered untenable now, and this will mark the end for him. Or will it?

    This emotional charged drama has an overwhelming sense of such utter sadness for most of the story. The whole piece gels so well because Father Adam (superbly played by Andrzej Chyra) is an engaging, seriously devout priest, generous to a fault to his parishioners, but one who struggles with his human foibles. When he tries to share his secrets with another person… his sister… she wants to be in denial of the reality just like Michel and The Bishop, and it simply reinforces Adam’s feeling of abandonment and hopelessness.

    Lukasz, like the other boys, is a young adult so what we are dealing with here is not paedophilia but a consenting relationship between two man, albeit that one is considerably older. It is his Lukasz’s final resolve that makes him appear mature enough to be a match for the Priest.

    The movie quite rightly won the prestigous Teddy Award at Berlinale (the highest award for a LGBT film) for writer/director Malgoska Szumowska who is back in form after that rather odd ‘Elles’. A nod to her cinematographer Michal Englert (also co-screenwriter) for the stunning haunting feel he gave to the bleak outside landscapes in particular, and another to young Mateusz Kosciukiewicz who looked more than tad like Jesus and who played Lukasz.

    What sets this remarkable and unpredictable movie apart from others that have dealt with repressed Catholic priests dealing with their homosexuality is Szumowska’s very real understanding of Adam’s personal struggle and the very straightforward way she tells his tale. The fact that its set in the Polish Catholic Church makes it that much braver, and also controversial.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Dirty Dancing, UK National Tour

    ★★★★ | Dirty Dancing, UK National Tour
    Set in the 1960’s, Frances “Baby” Houseman goes to Kellermans holiday camp with her family. She befriends the staff of the camp and develops a crush on charismatic dance teacher, Johnny Castle. But when Johnny’s dance partner cannot perform at a show at a local hotel, Baby steps in to ensure that they do not lose their jobs. But as Johnny and Baby rehearse, they fall in love and learn more from each other than just the dance moves.

    Based on the hugely popular film of the same name, Dirty Dancing hits the stage in this national tour. For the main, the show follows the story of the film very closely, particularly during the first act, with the bulk of the script being comfortingly recognisable from the film version. There are some additional scenes, particularly during the first half of the second act, which develops the story and which expands on both life at Kellermans and further explores the relationship between Baby and Johnny.

    The main cast members were surprisingly like their cinematic counterparts, in particular, Roseanna Frascona who played Frances “Baby” Houseman, throwing herself into the role whilst Lewis Kirk gave the best performance of the evening in the lead role of Johnny Castle, demonstrating some of the better acting and dance moves. The chemistry between the two leads worked well, although overall, the acting from the entire cast was not of the highest quality, and gave the impression that the cast were chosen for their ability to dance or sing as opposed to them being good all-round performers. That said, cast member Robin Lake’s singing voice stood out for his show-stopping version of In the Still of the Night. But the attraction of this show is not so much the quality of the acting but the dancing. All of the routines and set pieces were well put together, well executed and all handled more than competently by the cast, with many of the routines lifted directly from the movie.

    The show was packed full of all the songs you know and love from the film soundtrack, with combination of the orchestra performing on stage and some pre-recorded tracks. The soundtrack included Hey Baby, Love Man, Hungry Eyes and (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life along with the instrumentals such as De Todo Un Poco and Johnny’s Mambo. The set was versatile and effective, using backdrop projections and colour washes to separate out the scenes and locations and the scene changes were slick and undertaken smoothly and simply.

    But where the show really succeeds is in its ability to bring the movie to life and recreating it on stage. All of the familiar lines, plot points, dance routines and songs are there and there is something very comforting about watching such a faithful recreation of the movie. The show was fun and the feel-good ending had the crowd on their feet, shouting and cheering. For those who have not seen the film, the show is a good introduction to the world of Kellermans. To established fans of the film, the show will be hard to beat.

    The show is currently playing at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre until the (tickets and information can be found at http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/event/dirty-dancing-14/ ). The show then continues on its extensive national tour, details of which can be found at http://www.dirtydancingontour.com/

  • THEATRE REVIEW: A Spoon Of Sherman, St. James Theatre

    ★★★★ | A Spoon Of Sherman, St. James Theatre

    Billed as ‘The Songbook of Your Childhood’, this celebration of one of the world’s best-loved songwriting duos is so very much more than that; it is the songbook – nay, the soundtrack – to my life.

    The first Act opens with an Al Sherman medley. A prolific songwriter in the 1930s and 40s, Al Sherman wrote for Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, and many others. It’s very evident from hearing these numbers that such talent runs in the genes. His sons, Robert and Richard, would go on to continue this fine art for many years as The Sherman Brothers, and their songbook provides the main focus of the evening.

    The musicals the brothers are best known for fly in thick and fast – Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Parent Trap, Charlotte’s Web, Winnie the Pooh, The Slipper and the Rose, and so many more. Delightfully, A Spoonful of Sherman also includes some of their lesser-known, but no less delightful, back catalogue.

    The four singers – Greg Castiglioni, Stuart Matthew Price, Charlotte Wakefield and Emma Williams – are supremely talented and versatile, swinging with apparent ease between ballads and the more lively numbers; between comical and serious without a flinch. This is never more evident than the perfectly executed leap from The Jungle Book’s “I Wanna Be Like You” to “The Age of Not Believing”, from Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

    Now, I may be a little bit biased here (I hereby confess to a lifelong obsession with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), but Emma Williams stands out for me. Partly because every time I see her, I remember the many trips I took to the Palladium while she played Truly Scrumptious in Chitty, but also because of her exceptionally sweet and clear voice. Her performance of “Mother Earth and Father Time” from Charlotte’s Web is beautiful and a definite highlight of the evening.

    A Spoonful of Sherman is hosted by the affable Robert J Sherman, the son of Robert B Sherman. An accomplished songwriter in his own right, we are treated to a few numbers from his musical, Bumblescratch, which workshopped in London last year. It is clear he has inherited his father’s, and grandfather’s, innate talent.

    And then, it’s here. As sad as it is to leave the rest of the evening behind, I hear a few distinctive notes which signal the start of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang medley and the world melts away. It is everything I want it to be, and there can be no higher praise than that from such a devoted fan.

    All in all, A Spoonful of Sherman provides an entertaining insight into 90 years of songwriting history. In every note, this exquisite tapestry of song is an entirely fitting tribute, not only to the Shermans’ talent, but to the very art of songwriting.

    A Spoonful of Sherman plays at 19:45 on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 April at the St James Theatre. Tickets are £18-£25 from https://www.stjamestheatre.co.uk/events/a-spoonful-of-sherman-2

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Relative Values, Harold Pinter Theatre, London

    ★★★ | Relative Values, Harold Pinter Theatre, London

    In 1951 at Marchwood House in East Kent, Felicity the Countess (Patricia Hodge) is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her son with his new fiancée.

    More distressed by the news of his impending marriage is her loyal maid, Moxie (Caroline Quentin). Realising that the soon to be new Countess of Marchwood is not just the glittering Hollywood star she portrays herself as, but her long lost and bitterly resented sister from Sidcup, Moxie decides she has to pack her cases and leave. Felicity can’t bear to lose Moxie and along with her decidedly camp nephew and butler Crestwell (Rory Bremner), hatches a plot to dress Moxie up and palm her off as a family friend.

    Trevor Nunn’s revival of Noel Coward’s Relative Values contains some great performances, a beautiful set and great staging, yet somehow fails to fully deliver. In spite of Hodge, Bremner and Quentin showing impeccable timing and great comedic talent, the play feels rusty and out of touch and apart from the occasional glimpse of Coward’s usual waspish humour, felt humdrum and like a weak farce with a nonsensical plot. When the humour shines through it works well and there are some brief moments of high camp humour.

    Mostly, however, the play feels decidedly antiquated and hasn’t stood the test of time well. Coward’s glittering set pieces of Hay Fever, Private Lives and The Vortex aren’t reflected well here with the play lacking the rapidly paced repartee and razor sharp wit that Coward is well known for. Coward’s output was prolific so it’s to be expected that there is likely to be a weak link or two in his catalogue of plays and this lacklustre farce has to be a low point.

    It’s definitely a privilege to see two great actresses, like Quentin and Hodge, with such talent for comedy together on one stage. It’s just a shame that the piece doesn’t consistently offer them the material they need to work with.

    Relative values runs at the Pinter Theatre until 21st of June 2014

    Buy tickets here: http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/relative-values/harold-pinter-theatre/

  • THEATRE REVIEW: The Archimedes Principle, Park Theatre, London

    ★★★★ | The Archimedes Principle, Park Theatre, London

    How safe are children in the care of strangers? How much do we know about the people we work with? How far would we go to protect ourselves?

    In a town that’s haunted by an incident at the nearby community centre regular swimming lessons come to a halt when a swimming instructor is accused of inappropriately touching a child during a lesson and the dangers of Facebook creep to the surface. When history appears to repeat itself what can people do but expect the worst?

    This intense one act play by Spanish writer Josep Maria Miró i Coromina is set entirely in the changing room of a swimming pool. Buff and outwardly wholesome young swimming coach Brandon is about to have his world torn apart as his troubled boss, Anna, corners him and his colleague, Matt to talk about a complaint from a parent.

    The play was an award winning triumph in its native Spain, playing to sell out houses. It is certainly challenging and thought provoking and yet still manages to be entertaining and fast paced. The action flips about through time, moving skilfully backward and forward through the events of one day; a device which works well in telling the entirely believable story.

    Credit goes to the four actors especially the two younger men, Lee Knight and Matt Bradley-Robinson. Knight is particularly compelling as Brandon, a cocky hunk with a six-pack who hides vulnerability and maybe some darker issues. Bradley-Robinson is utterly believable as his slightly gauche and less confident colleague.

    The script feels tight and rarely falters and the subject of how we deal with letting children be cared for by strangers without living in fear feels like a relevant and important subject to tackle. The flip side of how adults behave when around children in an anxious society is another thorny issue.
    The play runs until 11th of May

    Book tickets here: http://parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/archimedes-principle/about

  • FILM REVIEW | Locke

    ★★★★★ | Locke

    Ivan Locke is on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career.

    Tomorrow sees the biggest concrete pour ever that will serve as the foundation for Europe’s largest building to date. As the foreman of the site he is considered not only the go-to expert but also a safe pair of hands to ensure that this mammoth operation will be done without a single hitch. However, that night he receives a phone call that will not only put the project in jeopardy, but will serve to unravel his job, family and his entire life.

    Several months earlier whilst on another ‘concrete pour’ away from home, Locke had a one-night stand with an older rather lonely woman. It was a brief fleeting moment that he had totally forgotten about until tonight when the woman, very scared and panicking, had suddenly phoned him out of the blue to tell his she was about to give birth to his baby at any moment. So after finishing work that day he jumps into his BMW and hot-foot it down the motorway from Birmingham to the hospital in London where the woman is having a difficult labour.

    In the course of the 3-hour drive Locke tries to manage the job and also his wife remotely by a series of very fraught phone conversations. Neither his flabbergasted boss nor his unsuspecting wife can accept Locke’s reasoning for abandoning them both on a whim like this and the phone calls get menacing and bitter as they threaten to destroy Locke if he persists with what they can only see as a foolhardy plan.

    Meanwhile in between all this rancor Locke is also balancing calls to his deputy Foreman who Locke has convinced can manage the task on his own, even though at this hour the man is already the worse the wear for drink. He also manages to deal with the police and council officials to ensure that the construction site has all the right permits for the task. On top of which Bethan, the now very distraught mother to be, is also bombarding Locke with hysterical demands as her deteriorating condition means that the hospital need to make decisions to try to save the baby.

    Throughout this all Locke is cool and collected and deals all the anger thrown at him is a quiet reasoned manner. Even though his boss fires him, Locke continues to brief his (ex) deputy as he is still convinced that he can supervise the job at a distance. He does however fail to calm his hysterical wife and she refuses to now take his calls and Locke is left communicating to her through his two teenage sons who are not interested in any family drama and much keener in relaying the play-by-play detail of the football match they had been hoping to watch with him on TV that night.

    The sons are obviously the real joy in Locke’s life but in the gaps between the phone calls we learn the real reason why his is insisting on undertaking this journey tonight and its to do with the fact his own father had deserted him at an early age, and so Locke will do anything to avoid repeating this, even though it may end up at a very steep cost. He has no intention at all of starting any sort of relationship with Bethan, but he wants to take responsibility for his new child regardless. Whatever his irate boss and his wife who has been blindsided by this one act of betrayal think of him, Locke is in fact a decent man who simply wants to do the best.

    Written and directed by Steven Knight, who picked up an Oscar Nomination for his screenplay for Stephen Frears ‘Dirty Pretty Things’ and is also known for writing ‘Eastern Promises’ for David Cronenberg. Knight wrote this piece for Tom Hardy and when he persuaded the actor to take the part, he was given just 2 weeks by the Actor’s agent to shoot the whole thing. It is a tour-de-force career defining performance by Hardy who is on screen in that car for the entire performance. He is nothing short of electrifying and I can totally appreciate why Knight insisted that the role was his alone.

    There is whole plethora of wonderful English talent who are the disembodied voices at the end of the phone that included Olivia Colman, Ben Daniels, Danny Webb, Andrew Scott and particularly Ruth Wilson as Locke’s distraught wife.

    Hands up too for Haris Zambarloukos the D.P. and Justine Wright the editor for helping make an entire movie short in car so compelling.

    This small indie movie was shown in the Spotlight Section at Sundance this year and is just about to have a limited theatrical release in the UK. I do so hope it becomes more widely available as the audience it so well deserves should see it.

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon | Amazon Prime | iTunes

  • FILM REVIEW | Diana

    ★★  | Diana

    Officially separated from her husband, Diana Princess of Wales is out to hook herself another new man, and the one she has chosen is Hasnet Khan a handsome heart surgeon who she looks up at with her big dewy eyes and blurts out ‘So hearts can’t really be broken then?’

    Full credit to actress Naomi Watts who, complete with prosthetic nose, is playing the worlds most famous woman, that she musters as much dignity as she can delivering such clichéd tosh as this straight out of a schoolgirls ‘True Romance’ story. This is from the new biopic that specifically deals with the two years of the doomed affair Diana and Khan had that ended just a year before her untimely death.

    The picture painted here is of a lonely and somewhat desperate woman trapped by the restraints of her fame and constantly waging war with her in-laws and the whole Buckingham Palace machinery. She is portrayed as an innocent here, and flirts to capture Khan as if he is the only man she has ever loved. (There is not even a hint to her long affair with James Hewitt etc). Khan is clearly smitten too and soon succumbs to her charms and her wily ways but by dating Diana he starts something he knows he cannot maintain as his devout Muslim family in Pakistan will eventually pressure him to take a traditional wife.

    Their two years together are an emotional roller coaster and the movie veers dramatically from showing Diana as this love struck immature girl one moment to the world crusader that she became. In the scenes of the latter, Director Oliver Hirschbiegel, just couldn’t resist in going just a tad too far in making her seem just a little too holy and self-righteous.

    Of course the trouble tackling any story on such a major icon like this is that everybody has a fiercely held view on their own. Hence some of the excessive vitriol that was heaped on the movie by the UK press. This may not be a good movie but it is hardly the train wreck that so many Brits (except this one) think it is.

    Based on book by journalist Kate Snell it is like, so much that was written about Diana, mainly unsubstantiated and comprised of suppositions and a lot of clever guesswork. What it seriously lacked was not necessarily more facts (god forbid) but a half decent script to replace the embarrassing drivel that newbie writer Stephen Jeffreys had penned. If only Peter Morgan (The Queen) had taken the job on!

    The fact however that it was still streaks ahead of a Lifetime for TV biopic was thanks to Miss Watts. She may have been 10 years older than Diana was when she died, and an Australian, and not really looking a lot like her, but she still did a great job.

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon | Amazon Prime | iTunes

  • BOOK REVIEW | The Road To London by Adriano Bulla

    The future of (gay) literature.

    (more…)