FOAM at the Finborough Theatre

★★★★

“The execution of the story is fascinating and the reflection on the punk and queer scene of the time is illuminating”

Foam is a biographical story about a gay neo-Nazi from 1974 to 1993. We follow his life through a series of conversations with other gay men, all taking place in a public toilet from the day he shaves his head to… the final bathroom. The show depicts racially sensitive subject matter, homophobia and violence (Jess Tucker Boyd as fight director). Some of the conversations are up for interpretation with regards to the takeaway message.

The audience enter to the sounds of a dripping echoey lavatory (David Segun Olowu). The room is plunged into darkness as startling punk music clangs around the intimate Finborough Theatre, with the audience sat on three sides. Lights up on Nicky with shaving foam on his head. Written by Harry McDonald and directed by Mathew Lliffe, Foam is an intense, cerebral and provocative examination of the dichotomous person that was Nicky Crane. The conversations are wide ranging; confrontational, sexually charged and also humorous as Nicky tries to connect with other queer men through the changing eras of the punk and gay clubbing scene.

The set is evocative and timeless with its industrial white tiled walls, blurry mirrors and fixtures of a public convenience (Nitin Parmar). It is lit with atmospheric colours and makes use of the glazed windows above and light seeping through the centre stage cubical. Colours creep into scenes slowly, before you notice the ‘rosey tint’ of Nicky’s memories (Jonathan Chan).

“Walker multi-roles these characters with tension and levity opposite Richards who is terrifying and desperate

McDonald takes artistic license as Nicky Crane (Jake Richards) meets Mosely (Matthew Baldwin), fascism incarnate, who seduces Nicky in more ways than one. Baldwin is electric and commanding whilst Richards is an unsure but intrigued teenager. Whilst gripping and absorbing, the blurring of homosexual awakening and right-wing radicalisation could be considered an unfair comparison, but others may read into the scene differently. Later on, we meet characters who seem attracted to Nicky’s ‘look’ in the form of Gabriel and Christopher (Kishore Walker) who display a nonchalant attitude to his skinhead identity. The play presents affronting examination of LGBTQ individuals who tolerate and entertain the hypocrisy of Nicky, even liking what he represents. Nicky can only exist as a Nazi if there are other gay people who choose to ignore or fetishise his tattoos and worldview. Walker multi-roles these characters with tension and levity opposite Richards who is terrifying and desperate.

A scene that provokes interrogation is that of Bird (Keanu Adolphus Johnson), a black gay man who Nicky corners in a club bathroom. The two men discuss Nicky’s crimes, which were unmentioned until this point, his targets including a nine year old. This is the only time Nicky and the audience is confronted with an overt rejection of right wing extremism and the impact of his crimes on victims, which bares noting. Johnson presents Bird as strong and secure in his queerness and in his rejection of Nicky in a powerful argument. The bravery of Bird is admirable, but potentially defangs the stakes of what Nicky represents. The final scene brings back Baldwin as Craig, a kind loving figure, starkly different to Mosely.

Foam tackles Crane’s life with depth and precision. In a story about neo-Nazis and hypocrisy, there was less focus on the consequences of his hate crimes and more on his strange double life and the people that populated it. The execution of the story is fascinating and the reflection on the punk and queer scene of the time is illuminating. The cast were superb and transfixing under Lliffe’s direction. Nicky Crane was a real man who committed hate crimes. There remains some discussion to be had about what the show was trying to say, and who got to say it. But It is clear that the play definitely invites these important conversations.

FOAM at the Finborough Theatre

Reviewed on 4th April 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Craig Fuller

Previously reviewed at this venue:

JAB | ★★★★ | February 2024

THE WIND AND THE RAIN | ★★★ | July 2023

SALT-WATER MOON | ★★★★ | January 2023

PENNYROYAL | ★★★★ | July 2022

THE STRAW CHAIR | ★★★ | April 2022

THE SUGAR HOUSE | ★★★★ | November 2021

FOAM

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★★★★

“a story which is both funny and moving, with fantastic timing and energy”

In Medway, Ollie and Ashley are about to celebrate their three month relationship. They are both sixteen. Ollie is certain that tonight is the night. He’s cooked her dinner, sent her flowers at school, which maybe he shouldn’t have done but anyway, he’s sure he’s done everything right. Only he’s paranoid that because of his leg, she won’t like him. Ashley isn’t certain she can go through with this. She’s the resident sexual health expert at school, four leaflets on every subject, always four, it’s got to be four. And what if they have sex and then – and then …

Ashley struggles with OCD. She thinks no one knows about it, and spends her life buried in her own coping mechanisms, doing her best to hide what she is dealing with. Written by Natalie Mitchell, this is a show about what normal is, or isn’t, about no one really being normal, whatever that means after all. It’s a show about young love, sex, and self-acceptance. And it talks about all this with humour.

Francesca Henry and Jake Richards as Ashley and Ollie respectively, are fantastic individually and lovely together, well directed by Grace Gummer. The relationship between them, with all its complexities, is believable throughout. They deliver a story which is both funny and moving, with fantastic timing and energy, underscored by a youth and vulnerability that the play is made by.

The two tell the story out to the audience, never quite together onstage even though they are onstage together, until the final scene, where they actually speak to each other directly.

Lizzy Leech’s set is split into four strips. A strip of that grey school corridor flooring they always use, especially in science corridors. Another strip of patterned wallpaper, grey bordering on silver. The third is dark grey, full colour, the last one grey tiles. Across its walls and the floor at various points in the piece, Kristallnacht is projected, letter by letter, spelt out as a coping mechanism.

The ending isn’t as strong or as believable as the rest of the play. Something about it feels too easy, too conclusive. But the journey we are taken on leading up to this point is an intelligent and engaging one, honest and lively as it talks about such an important issue.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Sam Wainwright

FOAM at the Finborough Theatre

★★★★

“The execution of the story is fascinating and the reflection on the punk and queer scene of the time is illuminating”

“Walker multi-roles these characters with tension and levity opposite Richards who is terrifying and desperate

FOAM at the Finborough Theatre

Reviewed on 4th April 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Craig Fuller

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FOAM

FOAM

The Bunker

Reviewed – 31st October 2019

★★★★

“a story which is both funny and moving, with fantastic timing and energy”

The two tell the story out to the audience, never quite together onstage even though they are onstage together, until the final scene, where they actually speak to each other directly.

The ending isn’t as strong or as believable as the rest of the play. Something about it feels too easy, too conclusive. But the journey we are taken on leading up to this point is an intelligent and engaging one, honest and lively as it talks about such an important issue.

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Sam Wainwright

Germ Free Adolescent

The Bunker until 9th November

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: