DramaLondonReview

Small Town Boys – Union Theatre, London

Reviewer: Dulcie Godfrey

Writer and Director: Tim McArthur

Fire Island is a historic gay party paradise in the USA, with plenty of bars, beaches and booze to disappear into. It’s the queer setting for Small Town Boys where instead of hedonistic anonymity two strangers find themselves closer to their hometown in the north Yorkshire than they expected. Delightfully based on a true story, Tim McArthur’s text and direction offer Southwark’s Union Theatre a solid three-hander and a tale of first queer love and nostalgia.

It’s a slightly faltering start, perhaps press night jitters and a stumbling early script. But the story of Tom (Nathan Taylor) and Drew (Stuart Simons), two adult gay men from the North East who find out, three decades on, that they shared a first boyfriend, blossoms into something sweet and totally watchable.

Tom and Drew’s story begins in a drunken beach escapade after a night of dancing and snogging, and leads quickly to the realisation of their first, and unknowingly simultaneous, boyfriend Jason (Dominic Charman). The early clunky exposition is forgiven as simple and effective stage design (work of Jessie Huckin) takes us from Fire Island to Middlesbrough and Guisborough, where we see Tom and Drew in real-time fall for the enigmatic Jason, and equally have their hearts broken.

Charman as Jason is the shining star of this show; in his presence, both Taylor and Simons are rendered young and vulnerable again. McArthur’s script and direction manage to eventually forge a dynamic full of care and thought between all performers. Charman embodies Jason, the lithe aspiring dancer, and takes even the unwieldy and awkward aspects of the script into something moving. Across from Charman, Simons and Taylor are able to offer a consistent and engaging performance.

At its core, Small Town Boys provides a touching and understated portrayal of the difficulties of being gay without acceptance from families, who might mean well but are unable to muster the correct language. The play shines in its portrayal of the formative first love in queer relationships. Seeing Tom and Drew’s safe space in crusty gay bars and pubs in small hometowns, a place where their innocent love for Jason can grow, gives more acknowledgement to the significance now of having locations like Fire Island in comparison.

The text labours at times, with awkward lines, particularly toward the end, dragging out unnecessarily and at times failing to make a distinct path between the two stories and losing the audience’s attention. But at others, the naïve first love is totally relatable and therefore watchable. We are stressed for Jason as he balances his infidelity, we are sorry for Drew and Tom as they are heartbroken at the loss of their first love, and we understand when Tom says he has taken that relationship with him into adulthood.

The show ends with a scintillating hint toward the ‘based on a true story’ aspect of the production, where Tom threatens to write a story about their very situation ‘The audience will have to decipher what’s fact and fiction…maybe I’ll invite Jason’. Suddenly the audience is keen to look left and right to see if they can spot him.

Runs until 5 October 2024

The Reviews Hub Score

Queer love and nostalgia

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The Reviews Hub - London

The Reviews Hub London is under the acting editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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