This Island’s Mine ☆☆☆☆
Kings Head Theatre, London
The year is 1988; Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reigns supreme; Section 28 has been brought in (which decrees local authorities shall not intentionally promote homosexuality) and HIV/AIDS hysteria begins to take hold.
Against this backdrop, seventeen-year-old Luke (nicely played with all the fresh faced fizz of youth by Connor Bannister) cycles home from school, his life “full of possibilities and exciting prospects”. As he looks out across the estates and the closed down factories he is determined to come out to his mum that night. By the time he has made it past the newsagents with headlines screaming “Don’t teach our children to be gay!” he has lost his nerve and changed his mind.
This Island’s Mine addresses a myriad of themes and issues, across a fairly epic sweep of time and place and yet at its core is the ideas of the impact of the repressive political agendas have on the personal realm, the toxic effect it has on people’s lives and the fight to escape.
There are fascinating tales that encompass police racism on the streets of London, discrimination and hysteria around the HIV/AIDS epidemic, colonial attitudes, Nazi Germany and even pre-revolution Russia but it is often individual relationships such as that between a lesbian and her uncomprehending conservative father (the dad says about her CND badge: “the eyes clock the badge but are unsure as to what they have seen”) or the mentoring between Luke and his gay uncle Martin (Theo Fraser Steele) that often reveal the most and really connect.
Miss Rosenblum (a mesmerizing Jane Bertish) is especially spellbinding as she goes full-on high priestess of doom when she intones “I’ve seen the signs before” all wild eyed and even wilder hair.
The casting occasionally cuts across genders which is both fun and illuminating, the set is a simple but beautiful sky blue backdrop with a nifty mechanism for the many ‘in-bed chat’ scenes and the costumes were effective and sometimes produced a misty eyed perfection such as the vintage pvc Adidas shoulder bag Luke carries, beloved of all 80’s school kids.
Thirty one years after the show is set Philip Osment’s play is once again unbelievably and depressingly topical (with anti-LGBT protests currently taking place outside Birmingham primary schools) and as the show ends we are reminded that Luke has not even finished school – yet he has already lived and loved more than many straight people his age – he may be back home but he has still escaped.
Director/Designer Philip Wilson
An Ardent Theatre Company Production
https://www.kingsheadtheatre.com/ Until June 8th
REVIEW: JONNY WARD 