Writer – Michael Neri
Director – Dominic Rouse
Franco and Nathan meet each other in a gay bathhouse and there’s an immediate attraction. However, following some exchanges of flirtatious looks, instead of finding an empty cabin and having sex, they end up having a conversation.
Over the following weeks and months, they meet up every weekend in the same bathhouse and, despite their growing attraction, just have a conversation. Their first chat is sparked by Franco’s OCD with cleanliness – he came to the sauna with his own towel and wiped everything with a disinfectant wipe. From there conversations grow to cover coming out, family, religion, upbringing and more.
What’s obvious is that there’s a difference between them in how they feel about themselves and their sexuality. For 25-year-old Nathan, he’s confident and happy with his sexuality. For 30-something Franco, however, growing up in the shadow of Section 28 and as a Jehovah’s Witness, his sexuality is an overwhelming shame upon him. As Franco and Nathan increasingly open up about their lives and their feeling for each other grow, secrets are revealed, and attitudes held that force them apart.
Wet Feet is the writing debut of Michael Neri and provides a confident if somewhat patchy, offering. Neri’s writing is solid and the play zips along at pace. It’s a poignant story that is sprinkled with humour, but it feels a bit too forced. Like many American teen dramas, the conversations feel too structured and contrived – the information is great, but you just don’t feel like those characters would be having that conversation in that setting.
Neri and Matthew Edgar are perfectly watchable as Franco and Nathan, giving solid performances all round. It’s the London theatre debut for both and is something that they should both be proud of. Dominic Rouse’s direction is relaxed and draws out naturalistic performances, despite the sometimes-staged scripting.
Overall Wet Feet is an entertaining and competent piece of theatre. It is highly impressive and very watchable.
Reviewed on 20 October 2023