TWO COME HOME at the King’s Head Theatre
★★★★★
“raw emotion is never far from the surface in this attention grabbing show”
Billed as an exploration of the realities of being gay in an impoverished rural community, ‘Two Come Home’ is a gut-wrenching drama that is a huge credit to its highly talented queer cast and crew.
Previously performed in Brighton, the show has an unmissable four-day run at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington as part of the Camden Fringe Festival. There’s a compelling, raw energy to this piece by Joe Eason which is set on the wrong side of the tracks in small town, deep south America.
The multi-talented Eason also co-stars in his own play and has in addition both designed the show and composed its haunting music. Kirsten Obank-Sharpe’s direction is meticulous, keeping the focus sharp throughout. She is also a member of an on-stage three-piece band, together with Cam Southcott on violin and Elizabeth Cleone Hopland on cello.
Evan’s dad has been jailed for ten years for violent crime. His gay son is clinging to the wreckage of a broken affair that ended a decade earlier. His mum (Nicola Goodchild in a wild performance full of sad energy) is a dysfunctional addict who has never learnt to love him. What happens when Evan’s ex (Ben Maytham) walks back into Evan’s life and will love rekindle in these most desperate of times?
As Philip Larkin famously wrote, ‘they fuck you up, your mum and dad’. Besides the gay love story, there’s an important second narrative here about the failure of familial love. Come what may, raw emotion is never far from the surface in this attention grabbing show. There’s plenty of that strength of feeling in the furiously frustrated language the characters exchange, and there’s wit and poetry too.
Joe Eason’s design is simple and to the point, with some effective lighting adding to the atmosphere generated by the off-key, melancholic score. A highpoint was his voice and guitar rendition of a beautiful song about love lost. The chemistry between the two estranged lovers is electric, helped by intimacy coaching from Marina Cusi Sanchez. James Burton blisters with toxically dangerous energy as Caleb Nicolson.
At the end it’s left to a woman cop (a deft and witty performance by Hannelore Canessa-Wright) to act the Greek chorus and deliver a final message: ‘Just drop the drama! Happiness is a choice’.
I’m not able to report why the playwright chose the American rust bucket setting. This Brokeback vibe has big screen reasonance. The show’s publicity cites its relevance to young audiences. Do similar dramas play out in rural Norfolk or Wales today?
TWO COME HOME at the King’s Head Theatre
Reviewed on 15th August 2024
by David Woodward
Photography by J. R. Dawson
Previously reviewed at this venue:
THE PINK LIST | ★★★★ | August 2024
ENG-ER-LAND | ★★★ | July 2024
DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL! | ★★★★ | June 2024
BEATS | ★★★ | April 2024
BREEDING | ★★★★ | March 2024
TURNING THE SCREW | ★★★★ | February 2024
EXHIBITIONISTS | ★★ | January 2024
DIARY OF A GAY DISASTER | ★★★★ | July 2023
THE BLACK CAT | ★★★★★ | March 2023
THE MANNY | ★★★ | January 2023
TWO COME HOME
TWO COME HOME
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