"Queers" by Mark Gatiss
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Reviewed by Joe Langham

"Queers" is a selection of four monologues exploring the experience of LGBT groups across the 20th and 21st Century. Originally commissioned by the BBC to celebrate 50 years since the legalisation of homosexuality in Britain, the collection originally consisted of eight stories and was curated by Mark Gatiss.

"The Perfect Gentleman", written by Jackie Clune and directed by Hazel Salisbury, opened the show. We are invited into The Queens Head, an establishment with a fine selection of ales, wines and spirits. We meet Bobby, a respectable gentleman that frequents the Queens Head, sampling many a drink. His charm and talents also have him earning the nickname ‘the Doctor of Southwark’ amongst the women that patronise the bar.

Bobby has a secret though. Bobby is in fact a cross-dressing working-class girl who passes as a man. Bobby is played by Gathoni Mwaura, who delivers the monologue with the swagger and stature of a 1920’s gentleman. A humorous story of exaggeration and bravado, recounting exploits that many are likely to hear down a pub even today.

"Missing Alice" tells the story of a housewife with history as she comes to terms with her own husbands secret. After marrying an eligible young man, Alice, played by Melanie Hamilton, travels to Brighton with her new husband for their honeymoon. The curtains of the hotel room are drawn and Alice is eager to consummate the marriage, her husband Michael however, is more interested in the fact that her dress matches the bedding.

"Missing Alice" is a poignant story of two people trapped by their situation. A gay man pushed into marriage to stop gossip and the woman who loves him, but can never be fully loved back. Missing Alice was written by Jon Bradfield and is directed by Helen Sharp.

"A Grand Day Out" introduces us to Andrew, a teenager who has attended a protest in London after the age of consent for gay individuals has been lowered from 21 to 18. Whilst a step forward, the refusal of the government to acknowledge sexual consent equality angers many in the community.

Andrew goes from the adrenaline of the initial protest to the worry of seeing new cameras there and potentially being outed to his parents after he lied and told them he was staying at a friends. He recounts missing the last train and having a chance intimate encounter with another man when needing a place to stay until the morning.

Lewis Brookbanks, who plays Andrew, delivers the story much like a mate to someone in the pub. The audience his ‘mate’ as he drinks his Smirnoff Ice and tries, and fails to light his cigarettes with his broken lighter. "A Grand Day Out" offers a sort of midpoint between the other stories as, whilst the LGBT community is not as hidden and shunned as in other stories, some still fear the response to being openly gay. Written by Michael Dennis and directed by Alison Hope.

The final monologue, and the most positive, brings us to the modern day. Michael Radford plays a suited Steve on his wedding day. Preparing his speech, he tells us anecdotes that are too rude for Aunty Janice to hear and others that are too wordy for him to include.

Pacing and rewriting his speech as he goes, he plays the part of the nervous groom to be well. He jokes that gay marriage was only legalised as straight people had worn out and made every aspect of weddings boring and monotonous and thus the gay community needed to come in and add a bit of colour and pizazz to the ceremony.

"Something Borrowed" is directed by Nik Hedges and written by Gareth McLean. A fun ending to the four stories, taking us from hidden identities and shame to the outward expression and celebration of love between the same sex at a gay wedding.

The music and sound design by Jack Harris transports us through the eras with relevant songs from Elvis to Lady Gaga.

The costumes, as with the music, evoke their relevant era from a longline tuxedo and top hat in "The Perfect Gentleman" to a 50s style dress in "Missing Alice".

The projections also suggest that the location stays the same and only the period changes as we go from a classic The Queen’s Head pub sign to a Moulin Rouge-esque lit sign entitled ‘Queens’.

Unfortunately for audiences, and fortunately for those lucky enough to get a ticket, Queers is sold out for its entire run this week.

"Queers" is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 11 January.