★★★★★

“intoxicating theatre at its best that calls for repeat viewing”

The red cross, in most peoples’ mind, represents a symbol that is potently English. On entering the auditorium @sohoplace for the first in Clint Dyer’s and Roy Williams’ trilogy of plays – “Death of England: Michael” – the playing space consists of a raised red cross. We are perhaps being told that we are in for an unmistakably ‘state-of-the-nation’ tirade but the insignia cuts much deeper and adopts a much more layered connotation. The red cross is also a symbol of protection or of neutrality. An international, borderless, organisation that takes care of people who are suffering. It protects those that wear the red cross. They are not part of the conflict.

The characters in “Death of England”, though, have little protection from their own inner conflicts. In the first of the one act plays we meet Michael (Thomas Coombes); a wide-boy, white-boy, working-class, cockney whose fury can no longer be contained. It is a fury that he blames others for, yet he knows it is more about himself. Coombes brilliantly gives violent vent to this self-contradiction in a performance that is mesmerising, brutal, shocking, tender, vulnerable, aggressive, honest and humorous all within the same heartbeat. His best friend is British-born, Caribbean Delroy. His late father was an unashamed racist whose approval he could never quite meet and whose politics he couldn’t escape. He takes us on a journey through their backstory, through twists and turns as white-knuckle and manic as Coombes’ delivery. It culminates in Michael, crazed through drink and drugs, launching into a scathing attack on the attendees at his father’s funeral.

Although a one-man show, Coombes makes us feel he is surrounded by a full ensemble such is the skill with which he brings the outside characters to life. The anecdotes race past at breakneck speed but at no point does nuance or precision become roadkill. The attention to detail is spot on to the point we see uncomfortable shards of ourselves reflected in Michael’s shattered personality. The unavoidable questions Michael asks of himself are just as much directed to the audience, an all-encompassing ring of jurors and judges that he cannot escape. Just as we cannot escape the pull of Coombes’ magnetic charisma.

Wide topics (Brexit, Windrush, Black Lives Matter) are brought under the microscope while moments of intimacy are thrust into the global arena. The affect is unsettling. On occasion you feel that that the writers’ sympathies lie with the racists, but within a stroke they become the guilty party. One moment it is harrowing, the next laugh out loud funny. The fact that the co-writers, Dyer and Williams, are both black British artists might remove some of the limits of what can be said, but on stage it is as irrelevant as it is poignant. The drama transcends Britishness. The themes are neither black nor white. There is too much heart and soul, and the posthumous discoveries that Michael makes of his father’s ambiguities and secrets are heart-wrenching and heart-warming.

We never get full reconciliation. But the society this play depicts never will either. We think we may have seen all sides of the debate until we realise this is only the first part of a trilogy. Not only are we left wanting more, but we also have the added satisfaction of being promised more. “Death of England: Michael” is intoxicating theatre at its best that calls for repeat viewing. But let’s get through the next instalment first.

EXHIBITIONISTS at the King’s Head Theatre

★★

“For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype”

The King’s Head was the UK’s oldest pub theatre when it closed its doors last August. Less than six months later – though years in the planning – the doors reopen to the new purpose-built space. The site is steeped in theatrical history, and many of us stepping through the doors on opening night for the inaugural production carry fond memories or have personal connections with the old space. The spirit of many great names in British theatre still lingers, some of them now ghosts. Watching perhaps. We can only speculate as the evidence is whitewashed over, and little remains, despite directly connecting to the old dressing room. None of the atmosphere has crossed the threshold. No memorabilia. No link to its colourful history. No echoes from the past. Nevertheless, as we descend the stairwells down to the subterranean black box, the anticipation is palpable.

“Exhibitionists” is an apt play to open the first season. In line with the LGBTQ+ leanings the venue has adopted over the years, it also harks back to a romantic golden age of twentieth century theatre. In their programme notes, writers Shaun McKenna and Andrew Van Sickle, reference Terence Rattigan and Alan Ayckbourn, while also drawing parallels with the screwball wit of Hollywood’s Charles Lederer. Bizarrely no mention is made of Noël Coward, even though the plot of “Exhibitionists” is lifted, lock, stock, and barrel from Coward’s thirties comedy of manners, ‘Private Lives’. Almost. Except it lacks the manners, or Coward’s mastery of the language. The subversiveness of Coward’s sexual identity was reflected in his plays – particularly ‘Private Lives’ – but as well as being a closet gay play, it is a classic that maintains universal appeal. “Exhibitionists” is overt, brash and blatant, but its focus is much too narrow.

Set in the San Francisco art world, Conor (Ashley D Gayle) and Robbie (Robert Rees) are living separate lives having split from their volatile, open relationship years previously. They both now have new, younger partners. Conor is with upcoming film-maker Mal (Jake Mitchell-Jones) while Robbie has hooked up with the heteroflexible Rayyan (Rolando Montecalvo). The two couples stumble upon one another at an art exhibition. The exes reunite, reignite and relocate swiftly to a nearby motel run by the implausibly eager Sebastian (Øystein Lode) with the new partners in hot pursuit. Squabbles and sex alternate as the farce unravels.

“The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped”

The premise is predictable and, for all its profanity, not at all subversive. For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype. Which is surprising, but also unsettling in that it seems to be unwittingly marginalising the culture it represents. There is little sense of celebration. The in-jokes jar, as though written by an outsider looking in, which renders the piece exclusive, eradicating its wider appeal in one foul swoop. Meanwhile, promiscuity and predatory behaviour are promoted in a way that, if presented in any other environment, would be condemned.

The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped. Bronagh Lagan’s direction moves the action snappily, encumbered however by superfluous entrances and exits (which become as repetitive as the dialogue); and more so by the poor sightlines created by the venue’s raked seating.

“Exhibitionists” is a rather unsubtle revival of a delicately intelligent original. A poor man’s Coward. For half a century the King’s Head has paved the way for pub theatre. The previously shabby auditorium has attracted top writers, directors and actors throughout its eclectic and eccentric history. The atmosphere hasn’t crossed over to the new venue, and the opening show is not one to draw it in. The ghosts will want a new space to haunt. Let us hope the audiences don’t follow them because, with time on its side, the King’s Head will recapture its soul, and our hearts.

Tag Archives: Ashley D Gayle

DEATH OF ENGLAND: MICHAEL

★★★★★

@SohoPlace

DEATH OF ENGLAND: MICHAEL at @SohoPlace

★★★★★

“intoxicating theatre at its best that calls for repeat viewing”

DEATH OF ENGLAND: MICHAEL at @SohoPlace

Reviewed on 30th July 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Helen Murray

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE LITTLE BIG THINGS | ★★★★ | September 2023

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN | ★★★★★ | May 2023

DEATH OF ENGLAND: MICHAEL

DEATH OF ENGLAND: MICHAEL

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

EXHIBITIONISTS

★★

King’s Head Theatre

EXHIBITIONISTS at the King’s Head Theatre

★★

“For the most part, the play paddles in the shallow waters of caricature and stereotype”

“The performers do well to counteract the faithless writing but cannot escape the cartoon landscape in which they are trapped”