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| Alex Hoskisson as Perce in QUEERS |
Queers.
Written by Mark Gattis,, Jackie Clune,Jon Bradfireld, Matthew Baldwin, Brian Fillis, Michael Dennis and Gareth MacLean. Curated by Mark Gattis. Directed by Steph Roberts and Jarrad West.Original music composed by Alex Unikowski. Lighting designer Stephen Still. Cotume designer Jenny Norberry. Executive Producer and Stage Manager Nikki Fitzgerald. Everyman Theatre. ACT HUB at Causeway Hall. February 14-24. Bookings: http:/thelittleboxoffice.com
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Karen Vickery as Alice in QUEERS |
They come to The Prince’s Arms in search of comfort, companionship and love. It is the love that once dared not speak its name and now the love that they embrace with pride. Patrons sit at tables laughing and drinking and listening intently as Everyman Theatre’s production of Queers unfolds . It is here that they can gain what the MC in Cabaret calls “ein bischen Verstaendnis – a little understanding.” In the corner pianist Callum Tolhurst-Close plays the Queers theme composed by Alexander Unikowski with singer Louiza Blomfield opening the show with I’m Always Chasing Rainbows. Joseph McCarthy’s lyrics take on a very different significance in Blomfield’s rendition.
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| Louiza Blomfield as The Singer in Queers |
Actor/writer Mark Gattis has curated seven monologues by different writers, depicting characters from different eras that trace the attitudes, experiences and legal challeneges in the gay history and movement since World War 1 to 2016. Each monologue is interspersed with songs relevant to the period and sung by Blomfield in a change of costume to reflect the fashion of the time. Between each monologue there is a short break during which Blomfield moves amongst the audience and barmaid Meaghan Stewart serves drinks to the characters, seated around the perimeter of the space.
What is so remarkable about this production is its humanity Each monologue is beautifully written, imbuing the character with the fundamental truth of the individual gay experience. With insight and sensitivity, directors Steph Roberts and Jarrad West elicit extraordinary performances from the seven actors. Each deserves special mention and high commendation. Alex Hoskisson is the only member of the cast to reprises his role in the 2019 production of Queers. He plays Perce, a World War 1 soldier in love with his captain. There is such depth to his portrayal of a serviceman suffering the anguish of forbidden love and desperation for the “liquidity of the eye” that reveals the shared love of homosexuality. It is a powerful and moving depiction of desire and shame. Dressed like Burlington Bertie from Bow, Natasha Vickery is hilarious and deliciously cheeky as the lesbian, disguised as a male and in search of satisfaction. Karen Vickery convincingly captures the confusion experienced by a straight woman, married to a gay husband.
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| Geoffrey Borny as Jack in QUEERS |
Geoffrey Borny’s depiction of an elderly queen is portrayed with riveting reality,in every high camp gesture and intonation. Borny’s West End tailor perfectly encapsulates the overt representative of his sexuality. “I am what I am.” It is Joel Horwood’s performance of Phil that galvanizes the pain, anguish and desperation of the AIDS era, Fear and the sense of injustice are palpable in a performance that plumbs the very depth of understanding. Actor Patrick Galen-Mules returns to the Canberra stage at ACT HUB with a performance that is quirky and portrayed with convincing realization and the amusing naivety of a seventeen year old youth at a gay protest. Queers concludes with Joe Dinn’s performance as the rapturous groom at his gay wedding. Dinn embodies the freedom and jubilation that brings to a conclusion the shame of the love that dare not speak its name or the subterfusion and deception by gays who have struggled to be counted and respected. West and Roberts have carefully guided each actor to discover the uniqueness of their character’s experience and infuse performance with thorough belief and conviction. Each actor under West’s and Roberts’ guidance gives a masterclass in timing, pausation and truth.
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| Joel Horwood as Phil in QUEERS |
Running for little more than three hours, Queers demands attentiveness that prompts ironic laughter, takes the patrons of The Prince’s Arms on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and delivers a salutary account of the gay experience over the past cent6ury. The struggles that these characters have faced do not end with Steve’s gay wedding in 2016. Queers teaches us that discrimination and disadvantage continue for gay members of society and all minority groups who continue to struggle for recognition and justice.
Everyman Theatre’s revival of Mark Gattis’s collection of monologues is a night at the theatre that is not to be missed.
Photos by Ben Appleton - Photox Photography
