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  • 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

  • KFC Reponds To Lesbian Couple Thrown Out Of Bath Restaurant

    Two women were asked to leave one of the fast food chain’s locations yesterday, after a customer complained.

    We reported yesterday that a father had taken to Twitter to complain to KFC that his daughter and girlfriend had been thrown out of the KFC restaurant in Bath after a customer made a complaint about the couple.

    TheGayUK did reach out to the PR Team of KFC but have yet to hear anything back, however speaking to the Independent a spokesperson for the company said:

    ‘Very sorry for any offence caused’.

    The spokesperson continued: ‘While we acknowledge that staff may have been over-zealous in asking the couple to leave, we do not believe that the decision had anything to do with their sexuality.

    ‘Staff acted in response to complaints from customers about inappropriate behaviour, however they have since apologised, in person, to the couple, and offered them vouchers as a form of apology, so we hope to welcome them into the store again soon.’

    Stephen Pope who originally made the complaint said that the police were now involved.

  • GRANDPA Writes Incredible Letter For His Gay Grandson

    After a mother kicked out her son because he was gay, her father put pen to paper to write this inspiring letter of support for his Grandson.

    In the letter he calls his daughter an ‘abomination’, after she threw her son, Chad, out of her home after he told her that he was gay. The father went on to say:

    ‘The only intelligent thing I heard you saying in all this was that you “didn’t raise your son to be gay” . Of course you didn’t. He was born this way and didn’t choose it any more than being left handed.’

  • NEWS: New Gay Club Opens Tonight In Southampton

    Good news for Southampton’s Gay Community as a new club is about to open its doors. (more…)

  • Father claims that KFC kicked out daughter and girlfriend because they were gay

    A father from Bath, UK, has taken to Twitter to complain to KFC, that his daughter and her girlfriend where kicked out from the fast food restaurant for being gay

    Stephen Pope took to Twitter today (17th April) to ask if it was KFC policy to kick out gay couples.

    In his tweet Mr Pope said:

    ‘Dear @kfc the manager at your Bath,UK store just kicked my daughter and her g/f out for being #gay. Is this one of your policies ?’

    The tweet has already received over 284 retweets.

    According to his Twitter timeline, Mr Pope alleges that a complaint was made by a customer to the store’s manager who then threw the women out of the store.

    Pope also stated that he was currently with the police and he has made an official complaint.

    The KFC Twitter team have yet to response to Pope’s Tweet.

    TheGayUK has reached out to KFC for comment on the matter and is awaiting a response.

  • Director Bryan Singer Sex Accusations ‘Absurd’

    The Hollywood director Bryan Singer, best known for directing X-Men has been accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old male.

    According to The Wrap, court documents obtained by the outlet, show that the X-Men Director Bryan Singer, 48, is being accused of drugging, raping and ‘using his power to exploit a teenage boy’ dating back to 1999.

    According to a press release, plantif Michael Egan said that:

    ‘Defendant, BRYAN JAY SINGER, manipulated his power, wealth, and position in the entertainment industry to sexually abuse and exploit the underage Plaintiff through the use of drugs, alcohol, threats, and inducements which resulted in Plaintiff suffering catastrophic psychological and emotional injuries. Defendant Singer did so as part of a group of adult males similarly positioned in the entertainment industry that maintained and exploited boys in a sordid sex ring. A Hollywood mogul must not use his position to sexually exploit underage actors.’

    Marty Singer, Lawyer for (Bryan) Singer said that the lawsuit was, ‘completely without merit.’

    ‘We are very confident that Bryan will be vindicated in this absurd and defamatory lawsuit,” said Martin Singer. “It is obvious that this case was filed in an attempt to get publicity at the time when Bryan’ s new movie is about to open in a few weeks.’

    Michael Egan was an aspiring actor and model at the time of the alleged assault and claims that he flew to Hawaii to meet Singer for sex on a few occasions.

    Singer’s most notable works are: X-Men, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns and Valkyrie.

  • Quakers to hold ‘Spirituality And Sexual Ethics’ Conference

    It is just over 50 years ago that a major milestone in the fight for equal rights was reached when a booklet called “Towards a Quaker View of Sex” was published and launched the debate about gay rights in many religious and secular circles as it presented alternative approaches to sex as a natural and normal part of human sexuality.

    Gill Coffin , remembers very vividly what a breath of fresh air that booklet was when she read it as an undergraduate. Today, it seems dated and she was struck by how many taboos have vanished or significantly weakened. Most people accept – even if they do not approve of – sex outside marriage, co-habitation, single parenthood, divorce and gay and lesbian identities and relationships.

    One of the events that led up to the writing of “Towards a Quaker View of Sex” was the suicide, at Cambridge, of a young gay man. A lot has changed, but is everything all right for young people today, or are there new pressures and dilemmas? What are the issues for those of us who are older?

    Some of today’s challenges are the same, others are different and perhaps more powerful. Young people experience pressure to have sex at an early age; amongst groups of all ages, there is an easy acceptance of infidelity, casual sex, and sex with friends. Less noticed, but available are multiple sexual relationships (polyamory, polysexuality) and sadomasochism. We read in the media about swinging and dogging; we find pornography and explicit descriptions of sexual acts readily available online – as well as online dating and online sex.

    There are still double standards for men and women – women are likely to be labelled as sluts or slags if they have casual sex, men are called womanisers. Social media are used to persecute and humiliate those who step out of line or who are just “different”. Gay and lesbian young people are still bullied in schools – often with no support from school-staff. The word “gay” is used as an insult, and young gay and lesbians are still at a significantly greater risk of suicide than their peers. Transgender men and women face immense barriers to acceptance.

    What have Quakers got to say about this new world? What guidance can be offered? QLGF (the Quaker Lesbian and Gay Fellowship), now over 40 years old and recipient last year of the Stonewall prize for community group of the year, is organizing a conference on “Spirituality and Sexual Ethics for Today”. It is open to Quakers and non-Quakers, of all sexualities and genders. The conference brings together a panel of speakers presenting a range of perspectives as well as skilled facilitation of workshops.

    The conference will be held on Saturday 17 May 2014 at Mount Street Quaker Meeting House in Manchester. More information is available at www.qlgf.org.uk.

  • INFOGRAPHIC: What Underwear Do British Men Wear?

    Well the question seems clear cut – But what are British men wearing to cover their modesty?

    • 33% of men in the UK still prefer to wear boxers over other types of underwear.

    • There was a 6% increase in traffic for male thongs in 2013.

    • Web traffic to thongs is in the top three for 6 of the 8 European countries.

    Earlier in the week we asked whether you were a briefs, boxers or Boy Is A Bottom kind of guy, well the official stats are in as the infographic below shows.

    A recent study by Twenga, a UK based retail search engine, revealed that British men are becoming more daring in the pants department.

    Starting to play it risqué

    The data shows that UK web traffic to the male thong is up by 10%!

    The bare all male thong also made it into the top three underwear searches in Poland, The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Germany and Italy. However, it still isn’t a firm favourite amongst British men, and surprisingly, Spain.

    Overall there is an increase of 6% in traffic to male thongs across the countries involved in the study.

    In Spain, although not a fan of the thong, prefer the tanga over the other options; suggesting that they’re not averse to revealing more.

    Men are starting to care about what they bare

    Last year UK department store Selfridges revealed that men’s underwear sales were up by 28%.

    The menswear buying manager at Selfridges, Richard Sanderson, said: ‘Men are becoming more conscious of what they are wearing when they take off their trousers. They want to impress their women — or their men — or just want to feel more comfortable.’

    This substantial growth in sales, they believe, can be attributed to advertisements featuring a physically toned David Beckham in his underwear.

    Comfort has always been the main priority for men when choosing their underwear but it seems that appearance is gradually starting to take some precedence, as apparent by the growing number of male underwear styles available.

    So what do you like to wear?

     

  • 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

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