Gently Down the Stream ☆☆☆☆☆
Park Theatre
When a young man takes an older lover, is there always an ulterior motive, or can the reasons be purely romantic, sexual even?
This is a question that is raised many times in ‘Gently Down The Stream’. The play is directed by Sean Mathias and written by Martin Sherman (who also wrote the seminal play ‘Bent‘ of which the film adaptation Mathias would then go on to direct). The flawless structure of this play reflects such a tight knit creative team.
The opening scene is the morning after the night before where young Rufus (a hunky, playful-as-a-puppy Ben Allen) is reluctantly dressing after a night of passion with the older Beau (played by theatre royalty Jonathan Hyde whose power and sheer gravitas provides depth and a welcome anchor to the younger, less experienced members of the cast and the production generally). Against convention, it is Beau who is riddled with doubts and regret and Rufus who is keen to stay and so a relationship is born.
It is Rufus’s hunger for knowledge, for an eyewitness account of obscure artists such as Mabel Mercer on which the dynamic of the piece rests. It is a first hand account of the changes that have occurred in one man’s lifetime. Indeed some of the most magical moments are when Beau takes us back in time, his past, to a mob run piano lounge in 60’s New Orleans or the conversations he had with James Baldwin on the streets of New York. There are also echoes of Tennessee Williams with Beau’s connection to New Orleans and his southern accent.
Sherman is more than just name checking such contemporaneous artists, he is signalling the central dilemma to Beau’s life – the social and psychological barriers to being able to lead a happy and fulfilling life as an out gay man.
Extraordinarily, through incredibly vivid and descriptive writing, Beau recounts a series of thrilling affairs and relationships that many people never experience in a lifetime. (Although to be fair his ‘one true love’ dies in an horrific homophobic act of arson, another he nurses till their death from AIDS). One can’t help feeling, however, as Tennyson wrote: “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”.
The final scene, against all odds, signposts a new beginning , a new found order and the most surprising role for ‘Uncle Beau’. It is this surprising nod to the circle of life, the ability to transcend adversity, that transforms this play from a study in doomed relationships to a truly uplifting, optimistic treasure of a play.
https://www.parktheatre.co.uk/ until 16 March 2019
REVIEW: JONNY WARD Jonny Ward, Queerguru Contributing Editor 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)
Labels: 2019, drama, London Theatre, review
