Full frontal nudity has its place in the theater, but Trafalgar Square Studios 2 is a really tiny venue. if you are sitting on the front row when the vulnerable lead character, Shane, disrobes at the end of the play (to devastating effect), you end up eyeball to ….well, you get the picture.
Shane’s journey (played here with great intensity and youthful awkwardness by Roly Botha) to reach this emotional climax follows the well-documented rite of passage of many gay young men; leaving an oppressive home life out in the sticks and sets off to find a new life and family in Sydney amongst ‘the freaks and the weirdos’. Shane displays an intense, nervous disposition from the opening scene for almost the entire play. I’ve never seen an actor tremble so convincingly and he was still shaking in Act 2! For my ears, Roly (a British actor) has worked hard to achieve a broad Australian ‘ocker’ accent that emphasizes how naive and unsophisticated he is when up against the much more sexually experienced lover Will and his new friend, the wily old lush Peter
Strangers in Between starts as a very well structured play with each scene advancing so the momentum never gives up and no scene Is superfluous. A critical plot twist just before the end of the first half and when the violent brother Ben (Dan Hunter) turns up which serves to ratchet up the tension another notch. This means we need no coaxing back to our seats when the bell sounds after the interval.
When Shane reveals his true age it explains why he is so emotionally immature – he’s a child in an adult world and his sexuality has charged way ahead of his life experience and therefore his ability to cope.
Peter (Steven Connery Brown) is on hand to answer questions and give advice and not only provides much comic relief but also a sense of maturity and stability. A moment when he evolves from being a kindly mentor to something more sexual is handled deftly – we see the character as perhaps an opportunist rather than a dangerous predator, but nevertheless, It’s a theme that brings great resonance to today’s audience.
The writing is pin-sharp and the brothers in particular struggle to articulate their feelings right, so what is not said is often more important then what is. A pivoting moment occurs when Shane is arguing with his brother Ben. You start to see why the brother is so keen for Shane to return – not so he can resume his psychopathic beating of him, but rather that he needs Shane for emotional and psychological support. This is something he finally is able to admit both to himself and to his brother, but not in so many words.
From there on in, however, the introduction of an abuse theme muddles the water with Shane’s story. It gives us a really hefty backstory to Ben but unfortunately having the same actor play both roles (lover and brother); and when there is some half-remembered shared experience of abuse; and when Will transforms into Ben; and the has sex with Shane- it all starts to get messy in our heads as well as on the sheets.
There is a lot of ground covered in the last two scenes of the play which start the imbalances it as a whole and loses the momentum that it had created so well earlier. The play has been well revived since its debut at King’s Head Theatre in 2016. Rather than revive it again maybe dramatist Tommy Murphy should write Part II – a sequel like Angels In America.
All I know, it’s a gem of a play in a small venue the punches well above its weight, and to be fair I’ve not been that close to a bunch of sweaty actors since Chariots Sauna closed down
REVIEW BY JONNY WARD: QUEERGURU LONDON CORRESPONDENT
STRANGERS IN BETWEEN TRAFALGAR STUDIO TWO until February 2nd
