Bingo ☆☆☆
The Pleasance Theatre
Cormac, a lovable Irishman at large in London (played with charm and nicely paced energy by Alan Flanagan) has been a very busy boy. He goes for a check up and finds out he has the full house of infections – HIV/Syphilis/Gonorrhea/Hepatitis C. to which the nurse mutters under her breath “Bingo!” and from then on Cormac is in a descent of recreational drugs, denial and despair as he says this diagnosis “is a young man’s first taste of mortality”
It’s not that he wasn’t a happy gay – he absolutely was; remembering the object of his adolescent desire Barry McArthur he says “It’s great being a boy” with lip smacking relish.
All the while however, he alludes to a terrible childhood incident and we are never sure if he is witness or perpetrator. This creates a solid line of tension throughout the play and his descent into hell, the long road back and his eventual catharsis.
Alan Flanagan also wrote the piece and he must be commended on his ability to conjure a moment; a conflict out of thin air and make it real. His fiend Jasmine the nurse, sister Siobhan and even the Willem Dafoe lookalike from the sauna are all drawn in fine, hilarious, believable detail.
It is a black box presentation with just a swivel chair to anchor Alan’s performance, the lighting is extraordinarily ineffective and the show has to compete with a lively bar next door but this still is a show worth seeing if only to hear Alan Flanagan’s extraordinary way with words delivered by the man who knows them best.
REVIEW: JONNY WARD
Jonny Ward, Queerguru London Correspondent is a drama graduate but has worked backstage for many years at venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, The 02, Southbank Centre and is currently at The National Theatre. He lives in Hoxton, London and is delighted to check out the latest, the hottest and the downright dodgy in queer culture for Queerguru. (P.S. He is currently single)
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