As a little budding gay growing up in a small town, I surprised even myself by really being into baseball. I knew everything about the players and their stats. I collected the baseball cards and even rooted for the Pittsburgh Pirates despite being an Ohioan who should have supported the Cleveland Indians. Even as a... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Cock (Ambassadors Theatre, London) ★★★★
Mike Bartlett’s Cock, last seen in London in 2011, is not just a source of endless childish sniggers in the West End—though we are grateful for that—it is an innovative revisiting of an important queer play, directed by Marianne Elliott. Barlett was inspired by cock fighting in Mexico, mashed up with questions about sexuality and... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Death Drop (Criterion Theatre, London) ★★★★
Jujubee is standing by the stage door, taking photographs with fans and laughing. “It’s so stupid. It’s SO STUPID, but it’s FUN stupid!” She says, succinctly summing up Death Drop. Reader, this show is so dumb, it’s genius! Category is “Drag-atha Christie”. Take the classic British murder-in-a-manor-house plot, fill the cast with drag kings and... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: The Normal Heart (National Theatre, London) ★★★★
The Normal Heart has returned to the UK in its first major production since the original, and taking over the National Theatre's Oliver stage, directed by Dominic Cooke (in a co-production with his Picturehouse production company) it is quite the return. In many ways, Kramer’s is a time capsule of that time of dark desperation... Continue Reading →
It’s A Sin: Dr Emily Garside’s guide to the HIV/AIDS narratives to read & watch next
Dr Emily Garside's guide to which HIV/AIDS narratives to read and watch next after Russell T Davies' acclaimed series It's A Sin. There is a vast array of work to choose from. Since the beginning of the AIDS pandemic those affected began telling their stories, both as an act of memorial, remembering those the government... Continue Reading →
BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: Dramarama ★★★★
Jonathan Wysocki’s debut feature Dramarama, part of this year's virtual BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, is about the last summer after high school, after the curtain has fallen in the high school auditorium for the last time, just before the cast is about to split up and head their separate ways, everyone going off... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Circle Jerk ★★★★
Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley's frequently hilarious high camp queer absurdist dark comedy Circle Jerk is very 2020. It's confronting, chaotic, unrelenting, far-fetched, deranged, and overstimulating. The theatrical equivalent of spending 100 minutes or so multi-screen doom scrolling yourself down a wormhole of alt right conspiracy theory threads punctuated with viral TikTok lip sync videos... Continue Reading →
Oh, Mary! There’s a new trailer for Netflix’s The Boys in the Band
The trailer for director Joe Mantello's new screen adaptation of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band has just made its debut online. The Ryan Murphy produced film version of this classic play that explores internalised homophobia with poignancy and humour, reunites Mantello with the stellar all gay cast of the Tony-winning 2018 Broadway production.... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Composer Paul Englishby on his music for The Inheritance “my feeling was that the music should gently put it’s arm around the audience”
With Matthew Lopez's multi-Olivier winning The Inheritance now in its final weeks on Broadway The Queer Review's editor James Kleinmann spoke exclusively with composer Paul Englishby about creating the play's achingly beautiful music. Scoring for theatre, film, television, dance and opera, Englishby is perhaps best known for his BAFTA-nominated work on BBC's Luther starring Idris Elba. His jazz inflected... Continue Reading →
Some personal thoughts on The Inheritance
One may as well start with the Young Vic’s emails to its mailing list (my God, how many articles about The Inheritance have started with variations on that line). Back in 2017 when Angels In America (starring Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield) was playing at the National Theatre, the Young Vic was announcing the last... Continue Reading →