Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, Sheffield-born comedian-turned-playwright Gareth Edward is taking his debut play about a gay sauna to the Camden Fringe this August, before transferring to London’s only LGBTQ+ theatre Above The Stag in Vauxhall.
Jack Hoosie and the Leisure Groan is a hillarious one-man monologue set to the throbbing beats of the 90s gay club scene. Sauna owner Jack has seen his establishment through thick and thin, large and small, hard and… well you get the picture; but now the very existence of his pride and joy is under attack from an emerging threat – the internet!
The arts sector was recently confirmed as the worst hit by the Coronavirus pandemic, but individuals in that sector also received the least support. Like many others, Gareth’s production company fell through the cracks in government support. He has used the recent crowdfunder to ensure that all the freelance theatre makers involved in this project are guaranteed a much needed income.
The money raised has been used to pay creatives (director, set designer, music producer, vocal director, marketing assistant) and gather the props needed to create a late-1990s atmosphere – complete with Windows 95 PC and a rather noisy modem.
The crowdfunding campaign offered the chance for donors to appear on the set, as ‘full members’ with their photographs shown on Jack’s noticeboard.
The show is set in the quirky subculture of gay bathouses, but has wider appeal than only LGBTQ audiences. It is fundamentally about a struggling business propping up a failing relationship, and a business facing an unexpected existential threat – drawing parallels to the hundreds of businesses forced to close over the past year
Gareth Edward says ‘this show is the perfect antidote to lockdown – heavy breathing, strangers and confined spaces. It will appeal to anyone feeling nostalgic about the 1990s, before lockdown and before social interaction became entirely digital’.
Jack Hoosie and the Leisure Groan
The Water Rats (Camden Fringe 2021)
2-4 August 21:30 | Tickets £15 (£10 conc)
Jack Hoosie and the Leisure Groan
Above The Stag (Not The Edinburgh Festival 2021)
27 August 19:00, 29 August 15:30 | Tickets £15
