FRAT

Old Red Lion Theatre

★★

“With some rewrites, this is a show that could easily shine.”

“He said/she said” is a conundrum that many have attempted, with varying success. And with the rise in right-wing rhetoric about traditional versus modern masculinity, these narratives have never been more fraught. Newcomer Max Allen’s Frat seeks to ask its audience — how far would you go to belong? In a post-#MeToo era, these topics are not just relevant, but desperately important. So why does it feel as though we never really tackle the issue?

Upon opening, we are plunged into complete darkness (a somewhat confusing choice from Lighting Designer Mason Delman) as we listen to Brent (Luke Stiles) shout at the pledges who are hoping to be offered full membership to the fraternity — to become brothers. When the lights return, we get a glimpse into the current goings-on in the fraternity house. Brent has recently been elected “Vice President External”, a position that Alex (Max Allen) clearly envies. We’re also introduced to Charles (Elliott Diner), the resident clown of the group, and Dexter, more frequently referred to as “Dex” (Will Hammond, an absolute stand-out in the cast), the token, slightly nerdy brother. They speak at length, often in strangely verbose prose, about the pledges they are currently considering for membership, the hazing those pledges will endure over the coming days, and most importantly, an upcoming mixer with other fraternities and sororities. Brent, it seems, has begun a rather risky flirtation with a sorority figurehead called Gabriella — it’s clear he wants to bring her as a date to the approaching party, but… she has a boyfriend. Or does she? We’re treated to several different narratives of the situation between them throughout the next forty-five minutes or so — until we go from “will they/won’t they”, to “did they/did he”.

What’s deeply frustrating about Frat is that it can’t quite find its feet over its sixty minutes of playing time — nor can the characters, which is no surprise given the shaky ground they’re treading. No one here seems to have any real consistency of character. Even Dex, the brother that you most expect to have something of a moral compass, waffles back and forth on his own principles in such a way that it could give you whiplash. In a disappointingly under-explored plot line, Dex becomes frustrated when a certain pledge is so thoroughly hazed that he ends up cold and pale on the floor of the fraternity’s basement. Dex looks for Brent, who is meant to be acting as Risk Manager at the party, but finds a drunk Alex instead. Dex comes in outraged, concerned about the pledge, but quickly gets sidetracked by gossip about his girlfriend. All concern for the boy on the floor, who likely needs medical attention, evaporates — and later on, we learn the pledge has been dismissed for being “high risk”. In fact, these “brothers” are so busy sniping, undercutting one another, that we struggle to care for them at all. The friendships they supposedly share just aren’t believable.

Perhaps this is why we don’t feel much when it all begins to fall apart in the final third of the play — because we haven’t been given enough reason to invest. It feels that the characters haven’t either. Moments that should reach emotional highs, inspire some fire in the characters, simply… don’t. The crescendo is surprisingly flat because the stakes just never felt that high to begin with. And the resolution itself feels unrealistic, given what we all know about how these situations usually resolve in the real world.

With all that said, the premise is a strong one, and one worth exploring. With some rewrites, this is a show that could easily shine. But right now, it feels like the fraternity floor, just after a party — incredibly sticky.

FRAT

Old Red Lion Theatre

Reviewed on 7th May 2025

by Stacey Cullen

Photography by Madeleine Bloxam

Previously reviewed at this venue:

EDGING | ★★★ | September 2023

THIS IS NORMAL | ★★★★ | September 2023

REPORT TO AN ACADEMY | ★ | July 2022

TOMORROW MAY BE MY LAST | ★★★★★ | May 2022

FRAT

★★★

“Coates shines the brightest of the pair with his deadpan manner and fearless displays of physical humour”

Edging, a new play by co-writer and co-stars Harry Al-Adwani and Martin Coates, tells the story of Henry and Marcus, two childhood friends who reconnect after five years when Henry needs a place to stay after a break up. When Marcus relents and lets Henry stay, scenes from their childhood together in a seaside town, whose main event the Donkey Derby is clearly the only thing of note, play on his mind.

At its heart, Edging is a story of male friendship complicated by feelings that indicate more. Told mostly from Marcus’ perspective, we learn that Marcus is openly gay, coming out to Henry when they were teens. It’s implied that Henry is straight, having recently broken up with his girlfriend. It’s pretty clear as soon as Henry re-enters Marcus’ life that he feels something more. The piece explores the unrequited love between a gay man and his straight best friend – evoking the obsessive yearning and sexual frustration of adolescence that continues through to young adulthood with tenderness and raucous humour.

Marcus, played by Martin Coates, ironically comes across as the comedic straight man of the duo. But that’s not to say he plays second fiddle to Harry Al-Adwani’s funny man Henry. If anything, Coates shines the brightest of the pair with his deadpan manner and fearless displays of physical humour from Marcus’ incessant masturbation and solo sexual exploits. The piece’s opening tableau sets the tone and a scene with a carrot is particularly, intentionally, cringe-inducing. He is uncanny as Henry’s darling agent, who proclaims there is ‘nothing more important than acting’ between vegetable based terms of endearment.

“The ending is unexpectedly interesting”

Al-Adwani also draws laughs, but more obviously so. He delivers the wise cracks and wink-wink moments that balance against Marcus’ more dry manner. Perhaps it’s part of his character, as an aspiring actor that doesn’t have his life together yet, but he comes across as much more naive. And when, as Henry, he becomes obsessed with fixing Marcus a date, his ‘straight-eye for the queer-guy role’ wears thin quite quickly. Nonetheless Al-Adwani and Coates’ do have good chemistry.

The show is blessed with an extensive set in the steaming hot black box theatre of The Old Red Lion. All action takes place in Marcus’ flat – decked out with plenty of vintage furniture, ‘Milch’ posters, and ‘Cow Juice’ branded milk carton that really show the commitment to Marcus’s career as a milk salesman executive.

However, the story takes too long to reach its climax and at times the staging and temporal shifts feel a little juvenile. The ending is unexpectedly interesting – a case of conflicting memories over the incident that led to their friendship fading five years prior. Rather than wondering who was right, we want to know whether and how the pair will move forward.

Edging is almost a sharp show, carried by the comedic performances, but an overly complex and lengthy plot blunts its potential.

Tag Archives: Old Red Lion Theatre

FRAT

★★

Old Red Lion Theatre

FRAT

Old Red Lion Theatre

★★

“With some rewrites, this is a show that could easily shine.”