Dumbledore Is So Gay ☆☆☆☆
Southwark Playhouse, London

First, let us reassure you, JK Rowling has not participated in, or endorsed this play. The title Dumbledore is so Gay is one of many references to the obsessions of the play’s hero, Jack (Alex Britt) a fanboy of the wizarding world. There is no broomstick riding in this piece. As long as you ignore its possibility as a metaphor. Smirky face. Eggplant emoji. Cough. 

Robert Holtom‘s play, after promising reviews from the defunct Vault Festival, has found a new home at the Southwark Playhouse Borough. It’s a zippy nostalgic millennial reminiscence of growing up and coming out in the noughties. Avoid thinking about the fact that for Gen Z, the current 20-somethings hitting the clubs, this is already lost in the mists of time. They were in kindergarten then.

Jack is in the closet (not the one under the stairs this time) and struggling with homophobic bullies, homework, and a crush on his mate Olli (Martin Sarreal). Every decision seems to take his life further down the wrong track. But the magic of a time-turner might just give him the second chances he wants. If the Sorting Hat of life has put you somewhere you don’t fit then it’s time to step up, find your own magic, and sort yourself out.  Three times Jack gets to turn back time. Some mistakes get corrected, but it’s impossible to avoid the struggles of life. Finally getting to have a relationship with the boy you had a crush on leads to the inevitable setbacks that all real relationships have.

Dumbledore is so Gay is tightly directed, or choreographed might be a better description, by Tom Wright. The small stage becomes a slick clockwork of movements between scenes and characters. Britt anchors the show with Jack’s vulnerability while Charlotte Dowding and Martin Sarreal flip effortlessly between a myriad of well-crafted supporting characters. An upbeat pace and plenty of laughs make it a punchy 70 minutes. The use of the time turner to replay the same events with three different conclusions gives a surprising breadth to the emotional possibilities of the well-worn path of a coming-out story. 

While the play overindulges in its use of teachable moments it has an abundance of charm and a very watchable cast. Be honest, the chance to rewrite your own history whilst righting all its wrongs has an appeal that most of us would struggle to ignore.

 

 

Review by ANDREW HEBDEN

Queerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing, and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day”