Theatre
69 Shades of Gay
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
four stars
In less talented hands, this could swerve into a cringe-fest of sexual cliches at the expense of gay men. Graphic details of who did what to whom in the heat of sudden lust are not necessarily the stuff of comedy-for-all but fear not: writer Stuart Thomas and director Ronnie McCann have Gary Lamont as the central (and indeed only) character, Aidan, From the moment Lamont, in slinky silk dressing gown, sashays through the audience, lu-u-u-rve is in the air. With more women than men in the house - many of those clearly River City fans - you could be forgiven for wondering “will it matter what the script is like? Because they’re cheering already...”
In fact the script proves to be substantially more than an extended stand-up session where raunchy jokes line-up along the familiar lines of gay stereotypes. You see our Aidan – and Lamont’s chatty, conversational style has actually made us care about the character– is sure that in partner number 69, he’s found Mr Right and is on track to settle down in the G12 postcode of his dreams. He’s so confident, he’s deleting all evidence of the previous 68 encounters from his phone, if not totally from his memory or his heart. This is where the wrench of unrequited love and disappointed hopes creeps into the monologue, and offsets the rapid-fire stream of down’n’dirty anecdotes with a reality check we can all relate to. Lamont, who’s been serving up the bitchy asides and hilarious put-downs with just the right amount of flounce, tunes down to bring a bitter-sweet pathos to recollections of the One Who Got Away. Aaaww - the hectic laughter gives way to shades of affectionate sympathy.
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