Gently Down the Stream

Finally went to the Park website earlier this week to see if they had announced a cast, which they had and then got an email earlier today. Somewhat disappointing I must say but mostly because I was secretly hoping Harvey Fierstein would repeat his New York performance here. Seems a low key cast for a premiere of a new Sherman play

Anyone seen this? I might get a ticket

Well this is certainly a play of two halves. Although obviously as it runs an interval free 95 minutes that's not strictly true.

Played entirely on one set and featuring a cast of 3 this is a highly entertaining and pacey experience, there are some cracking one liners and equally some poignant moments. Jonathan Hyde and Ben Allen turn in excellent nicely judged performances (enough to make me not regret missing Harvey Fierstein & Gabriel Ebert in NYC) I found Harry Lawtey overdid some aspects of his performance to begin with but he settled nicely and almost equaled the others. For those interested in such matters both young men are very fine specimens indeed, Ben Allen's upper arms are a joy to behold.

But at times it felt like a whistlestop tour of gay history as presented by a nervous 10 year old to his classmates. There was a war, then we were hounded by meanies, then we all got drunk, then Stonewall, then free love, then the Aids, ooh, then civil partnerships, now we can marry and adopt children. The End. In attempting to hit all the stations of the cross as it were, some impact was lost across the play.

Also the timeline stretched credulity especially with a reference in the final scene from Jonathan Hyde's character placing the action squarely in 2019. The program states the action of the play ends in 2014, so maybe this was an adlib or a late addition. Whichever, it got the cheap laugh it deserved but actually drew attention to the near impossibility of the characters chronology

I was also slightly bewildered by the choice to make Ben Allen's character manic depressive ( I don't think this is a spoler, as it's not a big reveal or anything however should the Theatreboard Gods decree so I submit myself to the appropriate punishment and public shaming) as the intent seemed to be to contrast the 'boys in the band' mentality of the older character with the more liberated and happy outlook of the younger. Yet if you introduce the concept of manic episodes it reduces your fundamental point of how time has changed for the gay community.

Anyway, go see it, it's worth 90 minutes of anyone's time, it was well attended but not sold out and the Park theatre is lovely and quite cheap!