Two very artsy, fartsy places where this week I saw two plays on gay themes. Not unusual in itself, but very different in terms of concept and aim. Frank's Closet evidently had a large amount of money behind it, evidenced by the design and a big cheque to the Arts Council. The problem is that the show wasn't particularly good and was badly miscast. It was obvious that they were aiming at merging gender roles but it was at the expense of narrative clarity. It seems to have been produced by a committee, judging by the amount of boxes being ticked. And whilst the pretty boys in underwear were indeed pretty - that's all they were. No great shakes at singing, acting or dancing - in fact, completely superfluous. So much so, that they were hired from a Model Agency rather that a drama school. Well I am sure the auditions must have been a hoot!
Narrative clarity wasn't so much in question at What's Wrong With Angry? at the King's Head Theatre. Cutting edge when it appeared in the 90's it now comes across as sounding like the rather petulant ranting of a middle aged gay man, speaking through a teenage school boy. I couldn't help compare it to another play of the period, Beautiful Thing. At a recent revival of BT at the late Sound Theatre I was rather surprised at how the emotional centre of the play is actually the Mother's struggle to bring up her son, rather than her sons burgeoning relationship with the boy next door. To this end, Beautiful Thing will remain a timeless classic because its centre is emotional rather than political.
Finally got round to writing my own review of What's Wrong With Angry?.
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