Tom DeTrinis wants to be heard, and based on Tom DeTrinis: I Hate New York, the show he has brought to Edinburgh, so he should be. Sure, he hates New York and some of you may gasp but having never been to the Big Apple myself, I still found this production absolutely captivating and boundlessly hilarious.
DeTrinis delivers a beautifully crafted piece with such energy, passion and performance skill that I was drawn in and felt deeply connected to the material despite having almost no similar points of reference.
Not for the faint of heart, we get an unfiltered account of numerous sexual encounters from the outset and there is a feeling that this is done to ensure that he has got the measure of the room.
With the laughs that followed, this emboldened him to be as fully truthful and bravely vulnerable as possible. What we witness is a theatrical biography; imagine if The Wonder Years was R-rated. Imagine if The Goldbergs dropped the C-bomb and a handful of F-bombs with a strong focus on the New York gay community. Then you will have the scope of the family fueled feuds and wince inducing account of the life of Tom.
There is a real slickness to the stagecraft; his characters are rich, varied, convicted and beautifully placed within the piece. The use of the stage is simple and effective; four boxes serve as the all the landscape needed to weave the world of DeTrinis’ imagination.
It’s an hour of catharsis and although that runs the danger of falling into indulgence. This show has been directed with such precision and confidence that it never comes close. I hope, like me, that you would find yourself thrown into the riotous story of a man who has reached a point in his life when he refuses to not be everything that he can be and indeed is.
Playing at the Assembly Rooms Powder Room, no matter where you hail from or how are you identify, everyone should see this show. Tom DeTrinis: I Hate New York is raging, raucous, rambunctious and riveting. Told you it was R rated.
