Following a successful run last year at the King’s Head Theatre as part of their Queer Season, Paul Bradshaw’s tell me straight returns for a second run, this time at the Chiswick Playhouse. Directed by Imogen Frances, this semi-autobiographical two-hander takes a wry look at the love life of a Millennial.
Bradshaw stars as ‘Him’ in the production, a jobbing actor juggling quite a few different men with whom he has some form of romantic entanglement. ‘Him’ is detoxing, avoiding alcohol, fast food and sex for thirty days, but with so many men on the go, the heat is on.
Between each of these men, ‘Him’ recalls previous romantic encounters with soldiers, school friends and much in-between. What all these different men have in common, is that they are all straight, and a very clear pattern emerges of the type of man ‘Him’ is most interested in.
Bradshaw’s tell me straight is fabulously funny, with sassy one-liners that have the audience guffawing in delight. It’s a dry humour, and it works well, particularly when delivered by Bradshaw in a withering, dead-pan style, and the copious theatre references also raise a few chuckles from those audience members familiar with the industry.
The stories that accompany each straight beau are all fairly similar, and while ‘Him’ imagines himself to be blessed with some kind of superpower that turns straights into raging homosexuals, the reality is there’s usually alcohol involved, and the relationship rarely ends well.
What the story is trying to convey is equally opaque, in the final scene it pretty much comes together, but for the rest of it, it rarely feels like it’s building up to anything. That’s actually not much of an issue, because the writing is amusing and engaging enough to keep audiences entertained, and not all theatre has to hammer home a message.
While Bradshaw plays the main protagonist, it falls to George Greenland to portray every other male character, and as previously mentioned, that’s quite a lot of men! Yet, Greenland achieves it with aplomb, darting from one character to the next with an assured confidence, plus one of the best Scottish accents you’ll find on a stage (apart from an actual Scots).
Stephanie Levi-John plays Dani, who only appears via voicemail and voice note, these are interspersed through the play, and act like the advice of a guardian angel to ‘Him’. With very little in the way of set, these little interludes give the audience something else to focus on and keep tell me straight pacy.
At just over an hour tell me straight is a very funny one-act play. The two principal performers have a playful chemistry on stage, but it is George Greenland’s ability to morph into a variety of different straight men that gives the play its edge.
Tell Me Straight is at Chiswick Playhouse until 26th February.
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