In Conversation with Graham Norton ☆☆☆
The Hope Theatre
The programme notes tells us firmly that Graham Norton does not appear in this Production. I can believe it as I take the rickety stairs up to the tiny theatre space (tonight the capacity is just 25 people) above the Hope & Anchor pub. I am greeted however by a fun gold glitter curtain on all four sides, a disco ball in the middle of the ceiling and a side table with a radio on it next to an armchair.
A young man enters, introducing himself as Mark and talks us through a dream he had in which he transforms into a great white bird in a “beguiling landscape”. It’s a dream of hidden beauty and potential. He brings with him a small framed picture of Graham Norton and places it with reverence on the radio and uses it to talk through all his problems and ask all the questions he cannot ask anyone else in his life.
At age eleven he started to think he might be gay and felt like it was the end of the world. He entered a world where he could look but never touch. He becomes the “unnoticed”. These were new and confusing feelings and continued as he got older; we hear Mark reminisce about the physical lust he felt for an attractive man on the tube. He admits he has fallen illogically and instantly in love with the stranger but also he is “rock hard”.
He turns to Graham and asks “Am I Gay?” to which most of us think we already know the answer but the point is he needs to talk it through with someone who is non judgemental, that understands, and we now start to see just how isolated this teen feels.
Mark is played by Jay Parsons, who knows how to work his higher vocal register and his youthful physicality. He puts these attributes to maximum effect – we really believe he is a socially awkward seventeen year old. He uses a microphone on a stand to create a difference for the other characters voices such as family or teachers and this works well. He wears Mr Happy socks which proves to be deeply ironic as we move forward.
There are a few well drawn comic moments to leaven the angst: when he embarrasses his dad out of the room; the cats bum incident is laugh out loud funny but there are many darker moments such as when he is queer bashed by Anita the school bully in the dinner queue which is the start of a reign of terror.
One can’t help but feel that many concerns and issues that Mark feels are quite normal and usual for teenagers but somewhere in the isolation he takes a different more nihilistic path
He has the internet. Whilst this could be a source of finding others like him to lessen his isolation and give him coping strategies it instead funnels him towards other more damaged teens.
Generation Z is the demographic that comes after Millennials. Surprisingly they are less liable to abuse drugs and alcohol and have less teen pregnancies than their more famous predecessors. Technology, however, has given them unrivalled ability to network outside their social or geographical circle. This doesn’t always prove to be positive move – Mark has joined a suicide club.
Mark takes us through another dream which is wholly more disturbing and darker than the first one. The lighting cross fades and focuses down to a small cold patch reflecting the intense loneliness Mark feels. He describes himself as a “pathetic worthless loser” – all of life’s promise and any remaining self esteem has now disappeared. He has found control in choosing suicide.
In Conversation with Graham Norton, written by Simon Perrott and directed by Joseph Winters, is a short but powerful play, although the pace was uneven at times and the writing seemed to lose momentum towards the end. It is produced by Batavia Productions whose stated mission includes spotlighting LQBTQ suicide prevention, and to bring people together to see and hear the stories of those affected. In this, the production is sincere and delivers mightily.
http://www.thehopetheatre.com/productions/in-conversation-with-graham-norton/ until January 26th 2019
REVIEW: JONNY WARD
