Tezza's Theatre Place

AFTERGLOW – Jesse Fox, Danny Mahoney, Sean Hart photo Darren Bell. Being honest, an open relationship wouldn’t work for me. However, I have friends who have the ability to keep sex and their relationship separate and really enjoy both. Whilst I agree that is fine in theory, for me, that separation would not be that easy and emotions always become involved somehow. In many respects, this is the issue that is at the heart of S. Asher Gelman’s play  Afterglow  at the Southwark Playhouse. Josh (Sean Hart) and his husband Alex (Danny Mahoney) are enjoying life. They live in a nice apartment in New York, have jobs they both, on the whole, enjoy and are having a baby together. Sexually, they have an open relationship with only one rule – no overnighters – and are happy to play together or separately. When we first meet them, they are having a passionate threesome with twenty-something masseur Darius (Jessie Fox), an event that all three of them really enjoy. In fact, Josh enjo...

(c) Nick Rutter. From left to right_ Freddie Hogan, Lewis Brown What does the word ‘undetectable’ mean to you? If you were a fan of detective stories, it’s a crime that cannot be solved. If you are a reader of some of our more right-wing papers, then we are talking about illegal aliens living in the country under the radar. If you are a gay man, then it is something far more serious that will affect your life forever.  Undetectable is also the title of Tom Wright’s new one-act play which is receiving its world premiere at the King’s Head Theatre. As far as gay relationships go, Bradley (Lewis Brown) and Lex (Freddie Hogan) are very unusual. Despite dating for three months, this twenty-something couple have not actually slept together yet. And their relationship is going from strength to strength. For instance, this very night, Lex has introduced Bradley to his, rather judgy, housemates, something he has been loathe to do with other men that he has gone out with. So, tonight is...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/189248/review-xposed-lgbtq-new-writing-night-hen-chickens-theatre/ Fluid (Jack O’Neill) There are times when I really wish I could write. Not these reviews but something worthwhile. They say everybody has a book inside of them but I’ve yet to find mine. As for writing a play, fat chance. Maybe that is why I enjoy nights such as  Xposed  which was a new writing night of eight short plays at the Hen & Chickens Theatre. The evening started with a play called  Fluid , written by Nick Maynard, Directed by Shafeeq Shajahan and performed by Jack O’Neill. This was a monologue with Jack’s character being a rough, ‘chavy’ boy from Bolton on a stage supposedly performing a rap for the eager audience – which included his mum, brother, girlfriend and friends. Only our lad has other ideas and is going to use this opportunity to tell everyone something that he has been hiding. Immediately the play started, my thoughts turned to “ oh great...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/179910/review-trouble-with-men-the-kings-head-theatre/ Sometimes a show can start a conversation just by its title. And this is particularly true of the latest addition to the King’s Head Theatre Queer Festival 2017 –  Trouble with Men . This 45-minute production consists of three gay plays, all written and directed by playwright Nick Myles and performed by a company of three outstanding actors. The evening opened with ‘The Farce’  Three Men and Some Baggage . In a regular flat, Fin (Freddie Wintrip) is getting ready for the arrival of his new boyfriend (William McGeough) but before he arrives, Fin is joined by his best friend Ray (Reece Matthews) and not to put too fine a point on it, stereotypical ‘twink about town’. Fin really wants Ray to leave before the boyfriend turns up but Ray wants to stay and check out the new guy in Fin’s life. When he does arrive, complete with a large bulging suitcase, Ray is instantly, and possibly unfai...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178230/briefs-close-encounters-underbelly-festival-southbank-review/ Briefs Close Encounters: credit Kate Pardey Well the big purple cow may have gone up north for a while but that doesn’t mean the fun is over on the South Bank and taking up residence in the Spiegeltent for the next twelve weeks are a group of talented chaps from Australia who plan to totally blow your mind as they take you to a galaxy far, far away. Welcome to  Briefs: Close Encounters. Sometimes you can gauge the type of show you are about to see by the audience. And the first thing to notice about this group was how excited they were. The queue to get into the tent started about half an hour before the doors opened. Lots of very excited looking people stood laughing together waiting to be let in. Once in, people who had seen the Briefs boys before headed to their favourite seats while everyone milled around – all the seating is unallocated. My companion and I managed to ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/177840/review-of-boys-in-the-buff-at-the-stockwell-playhouse/ Boys in the Buff at Stockwell Playhouse Musical theatre is there to entertain the theatrically non-discerning members of the public and give work to people that can sing, dance and make jazz hands, isn’t it? Obviously, the answer is a resounding No! It is true that some regular theatregoers look down on musicals as low brow but, in fact, they are missing out on so much. Think about shows like  La Cage Aux Folles, Wicked  or  Fiddler on the Roof . Each one of these has an amazing story to tell and raises awareness of issues in a subtle way and each one is a successful musical production. So yes, it is possible to combine the frothiness of musical theatre with an important story or message. Just such a show has recently opened at the Stockwell Playhouse with the arrival of LAMBCO productions Boys in the Buff. The show starts with our wonderful hostess, the lovely Diana D...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/177561/review-of-yank-at-charing-cross-theatre/ The company of YANK! at Charing Cross Theatre, credit Claire Bilyard 50 years ago, in 1967, homosexuality was partially decriminalised in England. In 2000 it became legal to be gay and a member of the UK armed forces. In the USA, the ban on gay folk serving wasn’t fully lifted until 2011. Why do I tell you this, you may ask. Well, the reason is that during WWII it was illegal to be gay in the armed forces and, despite the desperate need for men and women to serve, LGB personnel were persecuted by the military police for being who they were. Yet, when general conscription has been announced and the military machine is desperate for manpower, it’s inconceivable that the odd gayer didn’t slip past and serve their country. Their stories were never told until now as Joseph and David Zellnik’s musical  Yank!  opens at the Charing Cross Theatre. It’s 1942 and the USA has finally noticed that E...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/169539/the-chemsex-monologues-the-kings-head-theatre-review/ The Chemsex Monologues at the King’s Head Theatre. Photo by Mark Douet Some of you may have heard of an app called Grindr. It is a social app for gay men that enables them to chat and arrange to meet up. Okay, it may be a bit more than that but once again I must remember my mother reads these things. Anyway, if I was to download it and switch it on now, two things would become apparent very quickly. The first is that a lot of people take really bad photographs which seem to cut off their heads and the second is that the world is divided into those that say ‘chems OK’ and those that say ‘No Chems’. Being firmly on the ‘No Chems’ side, it is interesting to delve, if only briefly, on the other. Such an opportunity is available as Patrick Cash’s play  The Chemsex Monologues  makes a welcome return to the King’s Head Theatre in Islington. As the title suggests,  The Chemsex M...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/167017/a-clockwork-orange-park-theatre-review/ Did you know that as at the time of me writing this, there are over 88,000 people languishing in one of Her Majesty’s jails in the United Kingdom. According to the Home Office, the cost of keeping one prisoner in jail is just over £33,000 per year. Multiply the first figure by the second and that’s a lot of money that could be spent on other things. It’s no wonder that rehabilitation is one of the main purposes of the penal system. So, if you are, for example, Minister of the Interior and a doctor comes to you with a bold new treatment that is guaranteed to reform any prison inmate and within two weeks make them a safe, member of society, able to be released once more into the world then you would give it a try wouldn’t you? This is the backbone of Action the Word’s award-winning production of  A Clockwork Orange  which has just opened at The Park Theatre. Based on Anthony Burgess’ novel of...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/165886/the-hiv-monologues-ace-hotel/ The HIV Monologues (c) Eliza Goroya According to the National AIDS Trust, in 2015 nearly 90,000 in the UK received HIV specialist care. That’s quite a figure. HIV is no respecter of gender, age, sexual orientation or religion and between 2006 and 2015, there has been a 73% increase in the number of people accessing HIV care. It’s a difficult subject to talk about, and one probably avoided at most dinner parties. But Patrick Cash’s new play  The HIV Monologues  which I saw at the Ace Hotel, Shoreditch, is a wonderful way to get the conversation started. ‘Resting’ actor Alex (Denholm Spurr) has a lot going on at the moment. Not only is he about to go on a first date with Tinder match Nick (Kane Surry) but tomorrow, he is going to a hospital to audition for a role in a play by writer Barney (Jonathan Blake). Alex and Nick’s date is going well – after Nick’s horrendous opening flirting and dreaming up ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/163247/review-fiona-doyles-play-abigail-the-bunker/ Abigail at The Bunker – Tia Bannon and Mark Rose – Image courtesy of Anton Belmonté “ Some enchanted evening you may see a stranger. You may see a stranger across a crowded room. And somehow you know, you know even then….. ” and so the song goes on. Often it is true as well. Two people meet, something clicks and something starts between them. All well and good you might think. But people are complicated things. Everyone comes loaded with a trolley full of luggage behind them which affects their relationships in profound and sometimes quite unexpected ways. Not sure if I’m spouting a load of drivel here? Well, pop along to The Bunker and the world premiere of Fiona Doyle’s play  Abigail  then decide. A man (Mark Rose) and a woman (Tia Bannon) meet. There is a distinct difference in age between them but despite this, there is an obvious attraction between them. They get involved in a rel...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/162673/the-kite-runner-wyndhams-theatre-review/ You have to love the wide variety of shows currently in London’s West End. Musicals may dominate but there are some fantastic straight plays on as well. And 2017 has started well with  The Kite Runner  opening its doors at Wyndham’s Theatre. Based on Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel of the same name,  The Kite Runner  takes the audience on a roughly thirty-year journey through the life of Amir (Ben Turner). Amir is a middle-class Afghan boy living with his merchant father (Emilio Doorgasingh). The two live together but are not very close. Amir believes it is because his father blames him for the fact his mother died in childbirth. Amir is not really interested in business and wishes to pursue a career in writing. His father doesn’t understand this and often chides the boy for his perceived weakness and lack of courage. Luckily, Amir can talk to his father’s closest friend Rahim Khan...