Last night Stuart and I went to see explicit gay bonk-fest morality play Afterglow at the Southwark Playhouse in London's glitzy Borough.
Written and directed by S. Asher Gelman the play is certainly one for lovers of the naked male form. The actors barely keep their clothes on. The plot is somewhat less revealing though.
When Josh (Peter McPherson) and Alex (Victor Hugo), a married couple in an open relationship, invite Darius (James Nicholson) to share their bed for a night they perhaps didn't see how it was all going to end. I think we did though.
Traditionally in fiction, open relationships tend to take the same route; A & B meet C. A or B falls in love with C. Everything ends in tears.
Will our intrepid naked heroes suffer the same fate? Maybe. You'll have to go and see if for yourself.
Yes, there are some good touches. The staging is effective, the sex scenes are each performed nude but as dances - side-stepping any potential cringe for the audience, the acting is very good too, and, gratuitous shower scenes aside, the production is top notch.
It's just the play doesn't really have much to say beyond the obvious. If you play with fire then you either get your fingers burned or more likely you'll burn the whole house down.
Yes, it is a sensual exploration of polyamory, commitment, love, loyalty, trust, being open, and modern love. But it seems to conclude that this relationship stuff is really hard (which we know it can be) and that anyone who wants it all, can't, and will have pay the price. It doesn’t stray far from the melodramatic.
Still, it's good to see a decent queer love story presented on the London stage - in all its naked glory!
⭐⭐⭐
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.