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Bullish and brutal, yet tender when unfolding the complicated friendships and filial relationships between men, this is a great night out, with moments of joy and madness and lots of laughter!Summary
Rating
Unmissable!
Boys on the Verge of Tears seems a timely play as it seems we are all recalibrating what it is to be a man of late. The dutiful son, the horny lover, the responsible dad, or simply ‘the lads’: what defines the disparate and diverse group of males here? Where can their hearts be found, and is their brain only to reside in their shorts? At times watching the play you would think this to be the case, yet writer Sam Grabiner with his sharp, witty and at times acerbic dialogue cuts to the core to reveal a confusion and naivety in men that stems from their inability to fully communicate their true thoughts and feelings; which could be meaningful and profound.
The play is set in a large gents’ toilet with 39 parts played by 5 adult actors (with a late appearance of a small boy). This solid crew of talent move through scenes embracing each character with detail and distinction, capturing a wide range of male identity. It’s fun and it’s illuminating, it’s moving and it’s in your face – which is not always comfortable, but it’s thought-provoking as we are given time to ponder the cleaners and the brutalised. This is an ensemble piece and the company of Matthew Beard, David Carlyle, Calvin Demba, Tom Espiner, and Maanuv Thiara, all shine.
The costumes and set are wonderfully created by Ashley Martin-Davis, who has superbly realised the gents’ toilet with hand driers, strip lighting, cubicles, and urinals. It feels like a male place of refuge, a place to dream, reminisce and confess. It is a private and intimate place but still public, which allows for an array of characters to visit. Praise should also be heaped on the sound designer Ian Dickinson for a soundscape of water; running, flushing, peeing – who knew it could be so varied and so comic?
James Macdonald directs with a sense of sheer creativity and brilliance, moving the chaotic piece along with pace; shaping it beautifully to capture loud mouths’ moments of reflection; allowing discreet background reactions in the melee to pop up; or simply a ballsy, full-frontal, bold declaration of intentions. The boys talk with authority of things they don’t yet understand, and the lads posture and preen, ever confident, dreaming of all the sex they may or may not have had. And still they grow, the men bantering, returning to familiar haunts, entertaining each other with shallow dreams and schemes, often unattainable but nonetheless entertaining.
The emotional range is broad with scenes often short and snappy, taking us and the characters by delightful surprise (it never fails to entertain as people in a toilet think they are alone, having a private conversation when suddenly they hear a flush going and a door being unlocked! Priceless). Sometimes it moves us to hear of their needs not being met. Sometimes we scoff at their inability to recognise they have a need. Slowly we fit together the jigsaw of man and in completion we realise there is a piece missing – communication.
So often Grabiner allows a character to move from the banter to something more revealing, emotionally exposing, and so often it gets shut down by one of the surrounding males. Given the relentless chat, the one-liners, the interruptions, castigations, hesitations, quips, and sneers, Grabiner’s contemporary dialogue feels finely tuned, shaped into contrasting movements. It’s orchestrated with imagination by Macdonald and played out to perfection by a stellar cast. There’s no weak link in this band of brothers, who roll (literally with punches) and rock with delight at the challenges of what it is to be a man.
Writer: Sam Grabiner
Director: James Macdonald
Set & Costume Design: Ashley Martin-Davis
Lighting Designer: Peter Mumford
Sound Designer: Ian Dickinson
Costume Supervisor: Zoë Thomas-Webb
Assistant Director: Alex Kampfner
Lighting Associate: Claire Gerrens
Intimacy and Fight Co-ordinator: Enric Ortuño
Casting Director: Amy Ball CDG
Production Manager: Tom Nickson
Associate Producer: Eve Allin
Boys on the Verge of Tears runs at Soho Theatre until Saturday 18 May.
Further information and booking can be found here.
