On paper, this looks like a very interesting, streamed play with a stellar cast including Jodie Prenger (A Taste of Honey, Calamity Jane) Matt Henry (wonderful as Lola in Kinky Boots) and Layton Williams (Billy Elliot and Jamie in Everybody’s talking about Jamie). They are genuine West End stars who can engage an audience and sell tickets. Written in 1999 by Jonathan Harvey who has gone on to write for Tracey Ullman, Beautiful People, Coronation Street and Gimme Gimme Gimme, it deals with pain and tension within families and friendships of dealing with HIV and AIDS as the height of the disease. It’s revival now, as newspaper reports suggest the elimination of deaths from AIDS by 2030, is perhaps a reminder during the COVID pandemic of how it feels dealing with fear and uncertainty of an unseen deadly enemy. It is restaged after the acclaimed series by Russel T Davies It’s a Sin became such a hit this year on Channel 4 dealing with the impact of HIV/AIDS on a group of gay men between 1981 and 1991.
Set around the time of the death of Princess Diana in 1997 it deals with the aftermath of the death of Danny (Nathan McMullen) from AIDS as he waits in limbo on a step ladder in some staging post on the way to Heaven and then through a series of flashbacks and forward views reveals the relationships and impact on those closest to him, his mother, his boyfriend Connor, Connor’s brother Lee, and his best mate Lana. The script includes what now feels like dated forgotten references to Harry Secombe and Highway TV Show, comedian Dave Allen, The Wombles and Carry on Screaming but is also peppered with bad language, drug-taking and adult themes that on TV and in Cinema would surely carry at preshow warning or certification.
The stream we watched was filmed live and streamed from Hope Mill Theatre on Saturday 5th June 2021 and we are told will be only slightly different to the version that audiences will watch from 11th June. If so, it is simply not good enough with frequent out of focus shots, variable sound levels as personal microphones are turned up too late and poor generally blue wash lighting. The setting in a black box space with props strewn around the walls felt like a rehearsal space and the cameras catch actors resetting or collecting props while the action continues. A freestanding door frame and a set of steps are the only practical settings with some limited indistinct projections on one wall. Some of this is necessary due to the time shifts back and forward and switch from reality into the fantasy ethereal world but it makes the job of the performers harder.The music too is surprising with A spoonful of Sugar and Feed the birds from Mary Poppins and Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang so closely associated with Children’s films feeling out of place although beautifully sung by Jodie Prenger. Indeed, all the cast work hard in the face of these obstacles to engage the audience. Jodie Prenger plays Danny’s estranged mother now residing in a mental hospital writing paranoid letters to her son and I think imagining she is the stereotypical gay icon Judy Garland who greets him on his way to heaven. At one point she carries a carpet bag and umbrella as if a reference to Mary Poppins. Matt Henry is Lee who marries Lana (Amy Dunn) the heartbroken best friend of Danny. Layton Williams is Connor, Danny’s boyfriend, racked with guilt after his death when he falls for Ben (Harrison Scott- Smith), a gardener at Kensington Palace.
The show captures both the fear and deceits of those dealing with being HIV positive at the time and touches on the grief and guilt that arises after a close relative’s death which is as relevant today as it was when set. But it does not offer hope or uplift the spirits with its melancholy outlook which while appropriate when written feels out of place today. What we need as we emerge from the Covid Pandemic is something that helps us with a sense of turning the corner in fighting diseases and live theatre being a way to lift the spirits and celebrate life itself and this revival offered none of that.Review by Nick Wayne
Rating: ★★
Seat: online | Price of Ticket: £15
