“1970 was a sexy year” according to Robert, short term resident at 46 Beacon, the address which gives the play its title. The year? perhaps, the play, less so. Though Bill Rosenfield’s semi-autobiographical piece is a charming story of growing up and coming out.
Robert, played by Jay Taylor, is a washed up British actor holed up in a seedy Boston theatre. On the run from a failed career and ex-boyfriend on the other side of the Atlantic, he invites theatre worker Alan, who is considerably younger, back to his hotel room and sets about seducing him.
The seduction takes the form of long pieces of conversation. Back and forth. Question. Answer. Question. It becomes a bit repetitive, and at one point even Alan, played by Oliver Coopersmith, says “You’ve already asked me that”. Yet, it becomes utterly captivating thanks to the performances of the two actors. Jay Taylor portrays the confidence of a man experienced at covering over the cracks, while Oliver Coopersmith really grasps the naivety and nervousness of his character.
Perhaps in an attempt to be provocative, there are plenty of sexual references and “nudity”, but the actors constantly scrambling around to preserve their modesty detracts from the authenticity of what their characters are just supposed to have done, and would have been better left fully to the imagination. Overall, director Alexander Lass has staged it well and Trafalgar Studios 2 lends itself to the intimacy of the play.
46 Beacon is certainly touching and it’s easy to connect with the characters, Alan in particular, but both actors make us feel that we’ve shared that one night with them. It’s also very funny in places and if anything, reminds us how much has changed since that ‘sexy’ year, 1970.
