THEGAYUK

Tag: Theatre Review

All the latest breaking news on theatre in the UK. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on LGBT+ theatre in the UK.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Witness for the Prosecution, County Hall, London

    ★★★★★ | Witness for the Prosecution, County Hall, London

    REVIEW | Witness for the Prosecution

    Depending on your age and/or love of black and white films, you may know Witness for the Prosecution from the classic 1957 film with Charles Laughton and the divine Marlene Dietrich. No? Maybe you saw the recent BBC adaptation with Kim Cattrall as the murder victim, wealthy Emily French? No? Well, either way, you’re in for a treat. Even if you already know the deliciously cunning twists in this courtroom drama, you’re going to be knocked for six by the production.

    1950’s London and personable working class chap Leonard Vole is up before the courts, accused of bludgeoning to death a lonely (and rich) older woman in her St John’s Wood home. Things aren’t looking good for Leonard, especially as she’d just changed her will in his favour, and the gallows are looming. His only alibi is from his glamorous and frosty Teutonic wife, Romaine but will she vouch for him in court and help his cause or are things about to take a more complicated turn?

    Agatha Christie’s dramas are often wrongly seen as somewhat twee and cosy; the stuff of Sunday afternoons with a nice cup of tea. Here, you get to see Christie’s dark mind in all its sinister glory in a blood-splattered tale that is horrifying at times. OK so there’s the usual parade of thinly sketched and clichéd characters but that’s part of Christie’s charm too.

    One of the big draws of this production is the staging. Set in a courtroom, here we see it staged as authentically as is possible as we’re in…yes…a courtroom. Well, almost. It’s a debating chamber inside the sumptuous, disused, Art Deco County Hall (at the back of the London Eye, behind the aquarium) and it’s convincing. You could almost be in the public gallery watching the drama unfold. It’s high drama and more than a tad camp as there’s a soundscape of echoing footsteps, clanging doors and assorted gasps. It’s a thrill ride of chilling and thrilling twisty-turning fun.

    Forget The Mousetrap, Leave that for the West End tourists and head down to Westminster for a rare treat.

    Witness for the Prosecution plays at County Hall until 11th of March 2018

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Cabaret – Leeds Grand Theatre and National Tour

    ★★★★ | On New Year’s Eve in 1938, American writer Clifford Bradshaw arrives in Berlin, and finds his way to the Kit Kat Club, a burlesque club hosted by the enigmatic Emcee, where the fluidity of sexuality, gender and sexual expression flow as freely as the gin. There he meets Sally Bowles, an excitable, if naïve, English woman, who performs at the club; and the two of them embark on an affair. But as the Nazi party rises to power, their friends both at the club and within the community find that their lifestyle places them all at risk as the nation starts to divide.

    THEATRE REVIEW | Cabaret - Leeds Grand Theatre and National Tour

    Starring Will Young and Louise Redknapp, this classic musical written by Kander and Ebb, needs very little introduction. Including the songs “Money Makes The World Go Around”, “Maybe This Time”, “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” and “Cabaret”, the show contrasts the bright lights of the carefree club with a story which has a surprisingly dark streak to it.

    The first act is awash with exuberant musical numbers, performed in a classic burlesque style; with the stage glowing in gold and orange lighting, and with an abundance of scantily clad and ridiculously attractive dancers, showing off a plethora of muscular pecs, torsos and biceps. The indulgence and pleasure of the Kit Kat Club then yields in the second act to a darker and more emotional story as the rise of fascism takes hold, impacting on the free-living community of the club.

    Will Young excels in his portrayal of Emcee; making his performance seem effortless and natural and injecting the role with just the right balance of humour, ambiguity and campness to be charismatic and alluring. His performance of the shows musical numbers is excellent, especially in opening the show with “Wilkomen” and in a haunting rendition of “I Don’t Care Much”. Louise Redknapp has her moments as Sally Bowles, and to her credit can belt out the show’s tunes, but her acting ability does not shine through and any stage presence that she may have gets lost amongst the charismatic cast; whereas Charles Hagerty provides solid and tuneful support in the role of Clifford Bradshaw

    The show is well staged, with a beautiful cast, thoughtful and interesting choreography and an impressive lighting design. The set is relatively stripped back giving the whole production a feel which is not too dissimilar to Kander and Ebb’s other musical, Chicago. It is beautiful to look at and Rufus Norris’ direction keeps the show moving along nicely.

    The revival of this production is timely, to say the least. With the recent resurgence in far-right political parties, the treatment of the gay community in Chechnya and with homophobic hate crimes reported to be on the rise, the show maintains a strong message about the impact of passivity and naivety to these issues on the gay community; a message which continues to resonate with audiences many years after the show was first performed.

    Cabaret is currently playing at Leeds Grand Theatre until Saturday 28th October 2017, before continuing on its national tour, calling at Milton Keynes, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bromely, Dublin and Brighton. Visit the tour’s website for details and tickets.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Of Kith And Kin, Bush Theatre, London

    ★★★ | Of Kith And Kin, Bush Theatre, London

    After a run in Sheffield Theatres’ studio, gay surrogacy themed comedy-drama Of Kith and Kin hits London at The Bush Theatre. Oliver and Daniel are 21st-century gays married with good jobs and a flat. Now it’s time to take the natural next step, start a family with Oliver’s best girl-friend acting as surrogate.

    Chris Thompson’s play is a three-act drama and is mixed in tone and effectiveness. Starting out as a light sitcom with a twist, it morphs into a courtroom drama and ends with a more emotionally intelligent third act. There’s something distinctly dated about the first act in spite of the modern update. There’s all the classic sit-com ingredients: happy couple, monstrous mother-in-law descending, waters about to break and high camp. The difference, of course, being that there are two fathers and one mother. The humour is tired at times and whilst it has wryly amusing moments it’s never uproariously funny. Joanna Bacon does a good job as the brash mum from Woolwich but it still feels limp. Speaking of limp: James Lance has some unfortunate mannerisms. He’s playing a 46-year-old gay man with a mischievous sense of camp but to me, he didn’t quite nail this and it felt like an unfortunate and unintentional misfire. His swishy hips and flapping wrists didn’t convince me and it felt like a straight man’s imperfect attempt at portraying a slightly effeminate gay man which was grating rather than being entirely offensive.

    Act two moves on to the courtroom and again misses the mark. The key ingredient to a courtroom drama is a sense of tension but this felt slack in spite of strong performances from Donna Berlin as an improbably wisecracking judge. Finally, the third act is a more moving piece of drama and the play feels like it finds its feet but still, there’s a lot of holes and moments where the characters’ motivations feel unconvincing.

    On the positive side: James Lance is a nuanced performer (in spite of his poorly pitched 1970s style interpretation of a gay man’s mannerisms). Equally strong in supporting his work are Joshua Silver and Chetna Pandya. There’s also an interesting and well-thought set of themes to the play. Thompson looks at intergenerational differences in the expectations of his character. Oliver at 46, was kicked out of home for being gay and has difficult family relationships, never expecting that monogamy, marriage and children would be on the horizon. Conversely, Daniel who is over a decade younger has every expectation that these things are part of his agenda and in spite of all this progress, Priya’s teenage son doesn’t seem to be having an easy time of ‘having it all’. The confrontations of the final act are genuinely moving and raise interesting questions.

    It’s good to see a thought-provoking drama with some strong performances and emotive scenes. Whilst not excellent it has merits and is worth a look at the refurbished and plush Bush Theatre.

    Of Kith and Kin plays at the Bush Theatre until 25th November 2017

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Albion, Almeida Theatre, London

    ★★★★★ |  Albion, Almeida Theatre

    Mike Bartlett is riding on a high at the moment after the success of the second season of woman-scorned drama ‘Dr Foster’. As well as the much acclaimed TV drama he’s also a versatile and witty playwright with a string of theatre hits including the stellar “King Charles II” (what Prince Charlie did next), “Game” (the privileged classes shoot chavs for fun) and the epic “Earthquakes in London” (I think you can work that one out for yourself).

    His new play Albion is a sprawling three-hour epic concerning a successful businesswoman who uproots and plonks herself and her family down in a rural idyll with a dream of restoring an historic garden. Audrey is a bit of an uber bitch on one level. Suffering from profound grief following the death of her son in armed combat, she’s prickly and caustic, riding roughshod over her wet second husband and her disaffected daughter. Not to mention her guilt ridden middle class angst about the help, her strained relationship with her lesbian novelist best friend as well as her less than sympathetic views towards the local villagers who soon come to despise her. She’s also a strangely sympathetic character and is painfully real. It’s a tight script with echoes of Chekov (think disaffected people knowingly lurching towards disaster). Watching this feels a bit like settling down with a long but enthralling novel. It’s more than just a story. There’s a heavy layer of allegory and Bartlett turns his razor sharp gaze on to the people of England and their conflicted feelings towards their country.

    It’s a cracking play with multiple layers and is both thought provoking and emotionally involving without being preachy or patronising. The cast are universally strong, none more so than the fantastic Victoria Hamilton who plays Audrey. She’s been all over the TV of late as the put upon neighbour in Doctor Foster, The Queen Mum in Netfilx’s The Crown and the double crossing spy in the BBC2’s The Game. She’s magnetic and more than strong enough to carry this strong central role of a difficult but ultimately likeable woman.

    The stage set is absorbing and convincing. A huge tree dominates a long garden which the audience sit around in a horseshoe shape and it’s hard not to be taken in and feel like you’re out in an English country garden watching the human wild life fight it out.

    This is a rare treat. Go and see it while you can.

    Albion plays at the Almeida Theatre  24th of November 2017

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Venus In Fur, Theatre Royal Haymarket

    ★★★ | Venus In Fur, Theatre Royal Haymarket

    THEATRE REVIEW | Venus In Fur, Theatre Royal Haymarket

    A playwright/director bemoans the lack of female acting talent after a long day auditioning for the female lead in his new play. In walks Vanda, a ditzy and frenetic actress who’s turned up late but is determined that she’s going to audition for the part whether he wants her to or not.

    David Ives 2010 play is a twisting sexual and gender power play and a play within a play. The piece that Vonda is auditioning for is based around the 1870 novella of almost the same name (add an ‘s’ to the ‘fur’) by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch. The clue is in the name: masochism was named after Sacher-Masoch and his desire to serve and be punished. The two characters read from the play and the roles they play both in reality and fantasy are in a state of constant flux. Thomas is a man who once stated that working in theatre was a great way to get laid but Vanda is more than prepared to take him on.

    It’s a slight play in some ways and is uneven at times with occasional absurd moments Whilst it has timely themes with the current Weinstein scandal, it’s not exactly searing. That doesn’t really matter here, though. It’s an OK play and is an entertaining 90 minutes but there’s an odd phenomena going on. The actress is far greater than the play. Nathalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones) is totally hypnotising. Her co-star, David Oakes (currently on TV in Victoria), is more than adequate and is also easy on the eye but whatever your persuasion, I suspect you’re eyes will be drawn to every move, intonation and expression from the magnificent Nathalie Dormer. It’s sometimes hard to concentrate on anything but her central performance.

    Ignore the flimsiness of the play, although if S and M is your thing or you’ve ever contemplated this as a pastime then all the better. The main pleasure for most is the chance to watch such a virtuoso performance. Well worth seeing.

    Venue In Fur plays at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 9th December 2018

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Hair, The Vaults, London

    ★★★ | Hair The Musical, The Vaults

    Hair, the original naked musical, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in a new production at The Vaults in London. Is the message that it sent in the hippie lovin’ 60s still relevant today? You betcha.

    When Hair was originally produced off-Broadway in New York City in 1967, its message of anti-establishment and free love, anti-war, and its display of full frontal nudity shocked audiences back then, leading to more publicity and packed houses. Now that we have Donald Trump in the most powerful office in the world, and with the UK ready to break off from the EU, and not to mention the political and socioeconomic changes happening around the world, Hair’s message is perhaps more relevant than ever before. But is it actually a good show?

    In the tiny, cosy and very hot theatre that is The Vaults under Waterloo station, 14 actors playing hippies sing and dance and sway their young lithe bodies all over the dirt floor that is the stage, and for one brief moment at the very end of the first half, they all get naked. And before and after in the second half, we are sung and spoken to by these youngsters as they tell their anti-war tales and burn their draft cards and the unlucky ones who are sent to fight in a war but come back with limbs, and emotions, gone.

    Yet all the favourite songs are here, songs that include ‘Aquarius,’ ‘Good Morning Starshine,’ and ‘Let the Sunshine In,’ songs that make this show famous, more so than the script. So if you’ve never actually seen Hair performed, go and see it now as this might be your last opportunity, but don’t expect to be wowed and awed in this production, though it might help if you take some stimulants to get you through the evening as this show is as mellow as can be.

    Hair plays at the Vaults Theatre, London until 3rd December 2017

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Kite Runner, Sheffield Theatres

    ★★★ | The Kite Runner 

    THEATRE REVIEW | The Kite Runner, Sheffield Theatres

    Set against the historical backdrop of social and political change in Afghanistan, The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir and Hassan, who are best friends despite their difference in religion, class and social standing. The pair are inseparable, until Amir stands by as a shocking event tears apart their world and their friendship. But as the years pass, Amir has the opportunity to redeem himself and redress his guilt in a way which he would have never imagined possible.

    The play is based on the best-selling book by Khaled Hosseini and is a heart-breaking tale of friendship, betrayal, divided loyalties, family acceptance and social pressure. It also touches on themes of culture, religion, terrorism and of the life experienced by a country faced with invasion, dictatorship and war. Whilst the central the themes are numerous and remain relevant, the staging is stripped back and straightforward; and the whole show is presented with no fuss or spectacle, which allows the writing, script and narrative to shine through. The play’s strength lies in its flowing language which reflects the source material and, as you listen to the actors, you feel like you are reading a book. The addition of traditional Afghan instruments providing an atmospheric, minimalist soundtrack which enhances the uncluttered approach and provides a real atmosphere to the proceedings.

    In terms of performances, David Ahmad was broadly engaging in his performance as the narrator and protagonist, Amir, although never fully convinced in terms of his emotions; whilst Jo Ben Ayed provided a subtle turn as the meek and withdrawn Hassan. Standing out from the ensemble cast was Emilio Doorgasingh as Baba, Amir’s father, with a commanding and intimidating stage presence befitting of his character.

    It is an ambitious play which encompasses many themes and many key aspects of the character’s lives over a number of years, meaning that there is a lot to get through, and the second act does feel slightly crammed and borders on being a little overlong towards the end; but the story overall remains absorbing and holds the attention.

    The Kite Runner is a visually restrained production which provides for a thought-provoking, relevant and touching story which carries with it a lot of emotion.

    The Kite Runner is at Sheffield Theatres until 21st October 2017 before continuing on its national tour.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Young Frankenstein, Garrick Theatre, London

    ★★★★★ | Young Frankenstein

    THEATRE REVIEW | Young Frankenstein, Garrick Theatre, London

    The classic comedy Young Frankenstein has finally made it’s way to the West End, and it’s just as funny, or perhaps even funnier, than the hit 1974 film.

    Mel Brooks, still kicking around at the age of 91, directed and co-wrote (along with Gene Wilder) the Oscar-nominated film. Brooks wrote the music and lyrics of the stage version which had it’s Broadway debut in 2007 to rave reviews and several Tony award nominations. Its arrival in the West End is welcome because there is a lack of stomach-splitting comedies on offer, and Young Frankenstein is not only stomach splitting – it’s laugh out very loud funny!

    Scientist Frederick Frankenstein (Hadley Fraser), who insists his last name is pronounced Frankensteen in order to disassociate himself from his grandfather – the mad scientist Dr Victor von Frankenstein, and which becomes a running joke throughout the show, learns that he has inherited a castle in the town of Transylvania Heights from his grandfather. He decides to check it out and boards the Queen Mary Shelley ship (Shelley is the original author of the book of Frankenstein), says goodbye to his fiancé Elizabeth (Dianne Pilkington) who sings the camp song ‘Please Don’t Touch Me’ in reference to her devotion to Frederick. Once Frederick arrives in the town, he is greeted by Igor (Ross Noble), a man with a hump on his back which keeps on changing sides. Frederick also hires an assistant to help him at the castle, and this assistant is the blond, beautiful, buxomy and German Inga (a wonderful Summer Strallen – who practically steals the show with her looks, and dumbwitnedness). They ride up to the castle on a wagon to the tune of ‘Roll in the Hay (because they are literally on hay and during the bumpy ride Inga practically exposes almost every part of her body – it’s too funny to be seen! Once in the castle (the production designer cleverly takes up deeper and deeper into the castle through the use of darkness and doors that continually reveals amazing new sets). There we meet the fabulous housekeeper Frau Blücher (Lesley Joseph) who has an absolute scene-stealing number with the song ‘He was my Boyfriend’ in reference to Victor Frankenstein. While in the castle, Frederick and Inga find a secret entrance to the laboratory, which inspires Frederick to create a monster in memory of his grandfather. Well, Igor gets a corpse for the experiment, but it’s not exactly what Frederick had in mind, nonetheless, a monster is born, but knocking on the door are the town’s villagers, led by the one-armed and one-legged Inspector Kemp (Patrick Clancy) (it literally cost him an arm and a leg! Tha dump!). He and the townspeople know that something is up in the castle, that many years ago bad things happened there, and they want to find out exactly what is going on in there. And the rest, as they say, is history.

    Young Frankenstein continues with the laughs, and laughs, and laughs, culminating in the rib breaking song ‘Puttin on the Ritz’ sung by The Monster, Frederick, Inga, Igor and company. This show has got to be the funniest show I’ve seen in the West End in a long time (funnier, I think, than ‘The Book of Mormon’). And all the cast are excellent, but Strallen and Joseph are lucky enough to be given show-stopping songs to sing, and Noble as Igor is just too good to be true, and let’s not leave out Shuler Hensley who plays, to great effect, The Monster. This show is just about perfect for a comedy, and Director and choreographer Susan Stroman has created a masterpiece, while kudos goes to set designer Beowulf Boritt. It’s a shame that this show is at the small Garrick Theatre, it needs a bigger theatre just so that more people are able to see it and enjoy it, but nonetheless it’s one you definitely don’t want to miss!

     

    Young Frankenstein plays at the Garrick Theatre, book tickets now

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Toxic Avenger The Musical, Arts Theatre, London

    ★★★★★ | The Toxic Avenger, The Musical

    THEATRE REVIEW | The Toxic Avenger The Musical, Arts Theatre, London

    There’s a monster loose at the Arts Theatre in London; it’s toxic, it smells, and it’s completely hilarious!

    It’s The Toxic Avenger, the show that was originally a movie (circa 1984) and just last year played at The Southwark Playhouse to rave reviews. Well, The Toxic Avenger is getting revenge by coming back to a much larger theatre, with a superb cast!

    In a nutshell, the show takes place in New Jersey. You know the place, people only pass through there to get to the bright lights and big city of New York. Well, New Jersey is where the denizens of Manhattan dispose of all of its waste – not just garbage but everything and anything that they don’t want, New Jersey, unfortunately, gets.

    But in a town called Tromaville, New Jersey, which gets the worst of the wasted, there is nerd and aspiring earth scientist Melvin Ferd the Third (Mark Anderson), his mom Ma Ferd (Natalie Hope), Sarah the blind librarian (Emma Salvo), and host of other characters played by Ché Francis and Oscar Conlon-Morray, named appropriately as black dude and white dude. But when Melvin decides to find out who is responsible for the vats of toxic waste in Tromaville, he plans to put a stop to it. His investigation leads to the Mayor (Hope again), but when she finds out Melvin is on her case, she gets her two goons to get rid of Melvin, and they throw him into a vat of toxic sludge. But Melvin does not get killed, he comes back bigger and better than ever – he’s been transformed into “The Toxic Avenger” (a/k/a Toxie)!

    Toxie attempts to get his revenge, but in the meantime, blind librarian Sarah has a thing for him because she thinks he’s French (though when Toxie was Melvin he had a huge crush on her but she rebuffed him). Meanwhile, the Mayor is still up to no good and vows to kill Toxie no matter what it takes. But hilarity (and lots of physical comedy) ensue; lots of running on and off the stage by the cast, Sarah doing everything she can to get with Toxie, and the brilliant Hope has a scene with herself as both the Mayor and Ms Ferd – and one time she’s on stage as both characters! It’s a tour de force performance! Will Sarah and Toxie find love with each other? Will the corrupt Mayor have her way and turn Tromaville into more of a toxic waste dump? Will the front row of the audience escape unscathed? You will have to find out and buy tickets to this must-see show. And did I mention that it’s a musical? Everything you want and more is this show! And the cast are brilliant!

    It’s hard to single out any one performer, but I’m going to. Of course, Hope gets the most exercise (and laughs) as both the Mayor and Melvin’s mother, but it’s Salvo’s performance that is most memorable because she’s playing a blind woman, and it’s so believable! And she’s so funny! Kudos to the cast, and production team, including director Benji Sperring, for bringing us a show that’s one not too miss. It’s got everything a musical should have; escapism, fantasy, great story, amazing performances, and some rocking songs. Buy tickets for this show now!

    From Joe DiPietro and David Bryan (original founding member and keyboardist/vocalist for Bon Jovi), the Tony Award-winning team behind the hit West End musical Memphis.

    The Toxic Avenger The Musical is now playing at The Arts Theatre in London until December 3, 2017

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Band – Sheffield Theatres and National Tour

    THEATRE REVIEW | The Band – Sheffield Theatres and National Tour

    ★★★★★| The Band 

    In 1993, teenager Rachel and her best friends are obsessed with The Band, and sneak off behind their parents back’s to a concert where, on the way home, they discuss the future, make promises to each other and swear that they will be best friends for ever. But when something happens that shatters their world, the girls go their separate ways. 25 years later, The Band brings them back together, when Rachel wins a competition to see them in Prague, and decides to invite the group she had lost touch with. But with an awkward reunion on the cards, it’s going to be a trip they will never forget.

    Photo Credit – Matt Crockett

    Launched primarily off the back of a Saturday night TV talent show, The Band became the UK’s fastest selling theatre tour; but now that the TV show has ended and the hype has died down, the question is, is it actually any good? And the answer is a resounding “yes”.

    What elevates The Band high above other jukebox musicals is the story written by Tim Firth. Firth successfully interweaves great characterisations with nostalgia, comedy and genuine emotion in a heartfelt story about friendship, self-belief, realising that it is never too late to achieve your ambitions and that life doesn’t always pan out how you planned.

    The back catalogue of Take That songs is ripe for the picking, and with plenty of hits spanning their 30 year career, including Relight My Fire, Greatest Day, Prey, Shine and Back For Good, the show primarily presents the musical numbers not as standalone songs, but almost as if it is the soundtrack to the character’s lives; and cleverly places them naturally into the story; meaning that they are there to support the narrative and not because the fans expect them to be shoehorned into the show somehow.

    In a cast which is fairly faultless and which works incredibly well together, Rachel Lumberg excels as Rachel, the bubbly woman whose love of The Band brings her friends back together; Alison Fitzjohn provides many of the laughs as the self-depreciating Claire and the young ensemble who play the teenage friends are brilliantly put together.

    As for the Let It Shine winners, they were everything you would expect; putting on a great performance as they belted their way through the musical numbers,  singing and dancing their hearts out with confidence and professionalism; and looking great to boot; meaning that it’s not surprising at all to hear that they are working on their first album.

    The presentation of the show, especially for a touring production, is big budget and incredibly well done, with inventive staging, immersive lighting, a solid sound design and direction which keeps the show moving along flawlessly. The production is incredibly slick and polished and barely stops for breath as it speeds along.

    The success of the show is how all of the individual elements are present and come together to produce the whole package; and in the audiences relatability to the story and characters. We have all had a band which we have obsessed over, we have all had songs which remind us of a particular time in our lives and we have all had friends who we lose touch with.

    The Band surpassed all expectations and is a crowd-pleasing, foot tapping, fun packed show crammed with genuine warmth and emotion at its heart.

    The Band is at Sheffield Lyceum until Saturday 14th October 2017 , before continuing on an extensive national tour until July 2018. Visit The Band Official Website for details.

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Le Grand Mort, Trafalgar Studios

    ★★  | Le Grand Mort

    THEATRE REVIEW | Le Grand Mort, Trafalgar Studios

    Acclaimed musical theatre writer Stephen Clark, who died last year, penned this two-hander play as a vehicle for uber camp legend Julian Clary. The play concerns ageing architect Michael (Julian Clary) who is cooking dinner for a younger man (James Nelson-Joyce) who’s he’s picked up in the pub. As he slices, boils and fries the food in a functional on-stage kitchen he shares his thoughts on sex and death. Naturally. Once Tim arrives it’s not clear whether it’s sex or death that’s on the menu and who is in charge of the situation.

    Let’s get some important things out of the way first. Yes, Julian Clary can cook. To be fair, it’s a simple recipe, though. Shirley Valentine had to fry chips and egg. He just chucks a few things in a pan and rustles up a pasta sauce. Can he act, though? Partially. He manages to deliver the tight monologue that forms the first part of the ninety-minute play but once the action heats up he flounders a little. His character’s uptight and rigid persona suits his physical presence and makes the job an easier one.

    The main issue here is the play itself. It just doesn’t quite work and although mildly engaging it misses the mark more than it hits it. It’s a fairly relentless onslaught of thoughts about the death of celebrities. What should be sinister feels absurd and what should be absurd feels humdrum. What feels like a calculated move to shock comes across as tedious. It’s also, bafflingly, partly in rhyme and there’s a bizarrely intrusive soundtrack to the piece.

    On the plus side, the kitchen is stylish and attractive as is the young actor James Nelson-Joyce. Spoiler alert: expect full nudity. Julian Clary is an interesting spectacle and the faults of the piece aside it’s good to see him tackle something that’s different from his usual milieu.

     

    Le Grand Mort plays at Trafalgar Studios until 28th October 2017