Faun – Theatre503, London

Writer: Vinnie Heaven

Director: Debbie Hannan

Ace is a trans man who has been sofa-surfing ever since being forced to leave home. Now on their thirteenth sofa, they are doing everything to stay in the good books of their friend Paige (Nyah Randon) and her boyfriend, Afton Moran’s Ant.

Except that staying out of the way and blending in with the furniture really isn’t possible when you are turning into a half-human, half-deer faun. Starting with velvet nubs on their head and a short, spotted tail, Ace finds themself going through another transition – one that is not wanted.

Vinnie Heaven’s comedy has serious undertones, as you might expect from a commission by Cardboard Citizens, an arts charity that creates theatre with and for people experiencing homelessness, inequity, or poverty. But it does its best to wear its message lightly, thanks largely to a winning performance by Aitch Wylie. In their hands, Ace is a hilarious protagonist, who is also persuasive and charming – as they have to be, to keep in the good graces of the people who have let them crash.

Randon and Moran do stirling work as the foils for Wylie’s comedy, although their characters (and Randon’s in particular) are nothing like as sharply drawn or as acutely observed. Still, Heaven makes some decent points about how often their act of charity comes at a price – Ace finds themselves behaving as an unpaid servant, doing more than their fair share of household chores in order to keep in the couple’s good books.

The air of magical surrealism indicated by Ace’s transformation into a deer takes over when, after an ill-advised fling with Ant, Paige kicks her friend out, leaving them with nowhere to go. It is then that they find the Queer Forest: a non-judgemental safe space where other inhabitants attempt to help Ace figure out what is triggering their “fauning”.

Randon and Moran get the opportunity to show very different sides to themselves as Ace’s new companions: Randon’s confident Doe has a severe but kindly swagger. But it is Moran’s creations who steal this part of the show. First, as a silent but expressive plant (who, because it lives in a magical forest, can unlock the secrets in anyone’s past), and later as Stag, a cabaret MC in giant platforms, who can perform Ace’s “de-fauning” once they have realised its cause.

This all takes place in a deceptively simple set by designer Jacob Lucy, capitalising on Laura Howard’s lighting to signify Ace’s shifts between worlds.

It is no spoiler to say that Ace’s fauning is the manifestation of something internal. Its identification and eventual defeat form the moral core of this modern fairy tale for queer adults. And though nobody utters the word, it is not hard to associate Ace’s self-acceptance with a familiar term in the queer community: pride.

Pride takes many forms, not least an absence of the shame that LGBTQ+ people often place upon themselves as a means of fitting in. In a world that forces shame upon homeless people, and upon trans people, it is no surprise that homeless trans people are assaulted with shame at every turn. Ace’s lesson is a personal one, but also a clarion call to others: do not contribute to shame and let everybody, regardless of their situation, live with pride.

We don’t all have magical queer forests to help convince ourselves that we’re valid and deserve to take up our own space. But if we did, one would hope Vinnie Heaven would be its MC.

Runs until 29 April 2023 and continues to tour