"A Foreign Affair" - Theatrical Review

"A FOREIGN AFFAIR" - THURSDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER
THEATRICAL REVIEW DISCO MATT WEBSITE


In a real departure from our regular reviews, when the invite came through to attend a play down at fringe theatre The White Bear, our immediate thoughts were that it would just be an entertaining evening out with great pal Joel and seeing for ourselves, the fruits of labours of another friend, Andre, who had written, produced and directed this very gay themed piece of thespian drama. Indeed any thoughts of reviewing what turned out to be a most entertaining play were far from our minds when we made original plans way back in August and was still not a consideration as the day drew closer and eventually arrived. However, with a hectic day at work finishing later than planned, but with constant communication with Joel about plans of where & when to meet, we dashed home to scrub up and then headed down to Kennington to make our pre theatre liaison with our friend at not long after 7.30 p.m..

Now, Kennington is not quite the glamorous destination we are used to, but then considering some of the club locations we grace, it wasn't that bad, although a hurried phone call from Joel seemed to indicate that the pub come theatre host venue, was a little unsavoury (should we say rough) and was seeking alternatives when we arrived. However, summoning courage we entered The White Bear pub, which was akin to a bit of a "spit & sawdust/community" vibe, huge screens showing football to a testosterone filled bar. So, having grabbed some refreshments in advance of the play's timed 8.15 start, we decided to sit & wait out front of the pub, catching up with Joel on all the week’s events thus far and then spotting familiar & friendly faces also arriving for this evening of entertainment. After sinking yet more refreshments, it was time to head in and towards the theatre which was at the rear of the pub and down quite a cosy entrance way.

With our tickets checked off and with the inside of the theatre's capacity of just 50 filling rapidly, we had originally aimed to sit near the exit (don't ask!!) but our choice was limited to the far end seating on the back row of a half rectangular of three and settling into our spot it was clear the word "fringe" was very appropriate with little more than a performing area rather than a stage set up as a simple lounge space, a table & chairs and a sofa dominating the space and enticing a little imagination, both to what tale was about to unfold in front of our eyes and to the style linked to theme of the play. We had been given a hint about the storyline, a personal account of Andre's exploits on arriving in London from Brazil, but as the play unfolded it was clear that, knowing him as we did, it was a much more intense account of his experiences than we ever expected and for that reason, more than any, really engaged our attention.

So, what was the play about? Well, let’s cut to the chase shall we. It was an account of a young Brazilian boy (Marcus) finding mutual lust followed by temporarily enduring love with a much older Caucasian man (Gareth) who lived in sumptuous style in his house in Putney, shared by an old university pal & a rather homophobic one at that (Darren), together with a third housemate (Becky) who, it soon transpired, had attracted a lesbian adoration from a buxom cum butch female (Pam) on a boozy night out. Following us so far? With the first two scenes clearly rolling out the plot, with a glorious mix of serious issues intermixed with amusing moments, especially from Pam who was playing the part superbly, the twists and turns of the tale kept us fully enthralled as the love between Marcus & Gareth developing to the point that they were considering living together, but were continually thwarted by the homophobic come jealous intentions of Darren.

With the play's plot progressing rapidly and with the whole audience locked into the action, including both Joel & us, despite needing to relieve ourselves of our earlier refreshments, we continued to get sucked into the trials and tribulations of Marcus & Gareth as their planned enduring love and fairytale ending of living together bliss, build beautifully and then slowly fall apart, courtesy of the influential Darren who eventually persuaded Gareth that Marcus was simply looking for an easy ticket into the U.K. With our minds stepping away from the intensity of the play, we reflected on the reality of the issues that the storyline was bringing up, which were proving not only to be an accurate account of many people’s experiences in real life, but were tugging on our heart strings as we watched our friend Andre playing out what were possibly some really distressing times in his life.

Back with the play and the lesbian intentions of Pam being put straight in a very diplomatic, if but very amusing way by Becky, we were left with the ever deteriorating relationship between Gareth & Marcus, but with the obvious knowledge than underneath it all, their love should be destined to keep them together, had it not been for the intervention of Darren. We were, by now, desperate to see a happy ending to the play, the painful split between Gareth & Marcus, for us, being extended a little too long, despite the intermixing scenes between Darren & Becky, Darren & Gareth and even Becky & Pam which were clearly intended to deflect from the inevitability of the plot. However, what it did was to end up attracting our attention to the awful conclusion that the main message of the play, in our interpretation, was that foreign affairs, so called, are based on manipulation for personal gain. And so the play ended, with Gareth alone listening to his favourite Brazilian music and us reflecting on some stunning performances by the whole cast, Andre Bacelar as Marcus, Neil Kelly as Gareth, Jason Carter as Darren, Rachael Hilton as Becky & Antonia Oliver as Pam.

So, what did we think of the play "A Foreign Affair"? Well, it was certainly a provocative take on many issues that more than likely affect foreign immigrants arriving in the U.K. than we think, people arriving, falling in love and then being subjected to discrimination through misunderstanding. Parts of the play were very stark, especially the homophobic flecks which drew our breath, but the interspersment of humour as well as reality within the confines of the story, made the play most entertaining and for us worthy of a viewing to a much larger audience and theatre. It is clear that Andre has a talent for writing and the whole cast can be congratulated for delivering a truly captivating play which had us glued from start to finish. It is rare that we make time to re-discover our thespian routes, but this play certainly did that and we are sure it won't be long before we head down to the theatre again. (DISCO MATT)