Generation Games offers two one act plays in one evening at the White Bear in Kennington. Starting the evening with A Certain Term by Michael McManus followed by I F_____n’ Love You by Charlie Ross Mackenzie.
The two plays follow similar themes of love, loss, and life in all its glory. Older gay men who have seen life through a different generation of hostility and violence hiding themselves away for fear of repercussions. Accepting that a time in history has passed and who are refreshed by the younger guys who come into their lives and embrace their sexuality and want the men in their lives to be proud of who they are. Seeing that the world has changed and maybe it is time to remove the labels.
Graham (Luke McGibney) is busy preparing his flat for a party. When the doorbell rings and Joe ( Simon Stallard) arrives forty-five minutes early. Graham is extremely manic and dashes in and out of the kitchen with nibbles and wine. Living on his nerves desperately trying to suppress who he is and how he really feels about his ex-partner Robert. Living an unfulfilled life in fear of being hurt and alienated.
The storyline is complex, and past ghosts and trauma become unpacked and laid bare. Once you allow yourself to open your heart to feel and heal from deep-rooted trauma, anything can happen!
In the second play Adrian (Charlie Ross Mackenzie) and Simon (Joe Ashman) live together and work in television and media. Adrian’s fifty-something with a frequent bladder in need of emptying.
Bucks Fizz have reformed, and he’s compiling questions for the next day’s interview. It’s getting late and the couple really should be getting some sleep. However, Simon’s past liaison with Sophie is explored and a buried part of his past is unveiled leaving the couple questioning each other over whether they want to have children or not.
The experiences faced by the generations’ differences run throughout both plays. The younger generation in both relationships unaware of the reality of the struggles and angry homophobic aggression faced by many gay men in the 1980s, especially when AIDS hit the headlines.
Both plays offer an insight into the changing attitudes of gay man from different generations and society. From the world of dark “dirty” secrets surrounded in shame to the acceptance by their families and the general population at large. Something I strongly believe in and feel that everyone should be free to love who they choose.
For further information on these plays and future productions at the White Bear in Kennington please use the links below.
Four Stars.
https://www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk/
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