Thursday 18th July 7.30pm

Arts Bar Studio 3

Produced by Grin Theatre

Queertet is Grin Theatre’s pride-themed play festival featuring LGBTQ+ plays by local playwrights and culminated in a showcase of never-before-seen live theatre. They have resurrected this event after a five-year hiatus. They aim to tell “the upbeat stories of our community” drawing on the talents of local actors, writers and directors.

The rainbow flags in Arts Bar’s Studio 3, plates of sweets and offers of rainbow cocktails welcomed the guests, warming us up for this much-anticipated extravaganza.

Pride and Pre-Drinks

Pride and Pre-Drinks was a very appropriate first play title.

In a rainbow themed living room, Ryan (Chris Morgan-Shillingford) and Yaz (Jasmine Oates) are getting ready to go out for the pride parade, excited and determined to have a good time.

Yaz drops a bombshell on their party preparations, when she lets it slip that Ryan has drunkenly invited two guests for pre-drinks – two of Ryan’s dates (Dean Horrocks and Samuel Blackhurst), who don’t know about each other.

It’s too late to cancel… the boys are about to arrive! To help face the awkwardness, you need music, a change of clothes, games (“Ring of Fire”) and “Avril La-vag-nee”. There were many comedy moments: Vince’s (Samuel Blackhurst) cross between posh English gent, Neil Tennant, and something akin to a camp Matt Berry meets Jim the Neighbour from Friday night dinner, who deliberately pretentiously mispronounces common words for that unsubtly erudite effect; his dancing to “Complicated” in the aisle; a thrilling behind the sofa romp (rather literally!); the faux serious faces from Ryan when picking his outfit, and the farcical denouement.

The piece was anchored by a strong performance from best mate Yaz. A lovely, witty piece by James Jarmon and a brilliant directing debut from Matt Shiel.

Straight Mates

What do you do when you haven’t seen your best mates for a year and you get to spend a weekend reunion in Scotland’s stunning capital? It’s obvious; stay in the apartment watching Naked Attraction for some “equal opportunities objectification”.

Three best mates from school, Mickey (James Caton), Theo (Ben Hillyer) and Ste (Jonathan Ali) have been keeping up the long-held tradition of meeting each year to “drink beer, reminisce and take the piss.”

Mickey, the most scouse Polish person you’ve ever heard, is gay but shuns the stereotype. He doesn’t celebrate pride or condone corporate rainbow flags. Instead, he watches football avidly and enjoys nothing more than playing Grand Theft Auto with his two best mates.

Theo is the nice guy, calming, gentle, sensitive and engaged to the woman of his dreams, while Ste is your quintessential man’s man. Having grown up with a hard-knock brother, he takes any opportunity to exert his masculinity and make fun of Mickey’s sexuality.

To get out the flat and see some of Edinburgh, they end up in a bar where they meet Orla (Abbie Reader), a local lass who debates the merits of corporate allies and deftly unpacks the toxic masculinity rife among the three mates.

Over the course of the night, the friendship is put under the microscope and the pals are forced to face up to some hard truths.

Can they still be blokes who hug, have heart to hearts and stand by each other? Or is making fun of each other what underpins their friendship? And is Ste really the straight guy he purports to be? It’s a tough night with lots of revelations delivered by a fast-paced, witty script that could be a stand-alone piece.

The acting was strong throughout with the right amount of energy and subtlety. A special mention goes to Abbie Reader for her well-sustained Scottish accent.

An ample interval gave us an opportunity to get our rainbow cocktails in and mingle before the second half got underway.

By My Name

Two best friends meet for a tête-à-tête and a moan about the people in their life. Jack (Callum Parker) is trans and is having a hard time getting on with Sandra, his wicked stepmother, who can’t accept he’s no longer Suzie, so much so she still addresses him by this name. Jack feels disrespected and that his dad isn’t standing up for him. He’s proud of his masculine physique, even the makings of his beer belly (I think you need a microscope to see it, but I love the sentiment of owning your beer belly!) and confides his woes to Elsie.

Pansexual Elsie (Megan Price) is getting ready for a party and is doing her makeup while listening to Jack, but she has issues of her own. Her “friend”, who fancies herself as some sort of medical expert garnered from years of watching daytime medical dramas, has decided Elsie needs therapy for her “sex addiction.”

Between the pair of them they put the world to rights in this short and thoughtful piece which teaches about acceptance and being proud of who you are.

The actors took on these bold themes with aplomb. Megan Price has a wonderfully expressive face that charmed as Elsie.

At times, the volume dipped which meant I missed some of the dialogue, sadly.

Lollipops

Trendy cookery-obsessed TV presenter Zoe (Nicola Hardman) and her betrothed, Chrissie (Katie Wellman), are preparing to get married. The stunning set is their cosy flat is decorated with a lavish table, a gold “I Do” balloon, champagne flutes and Rita, the much-adored house plant.

Zoe is on buffet duty, while it’s Chrissie’s job to give the loo a once-over before the guests arrive for a party. The 80s playlist is pumping out the hits and the housework is punctuated by dancing. The two girls appear to have some jive moves and are clearly madly in-love – a convincing chemistry from the two actors.

Chrissie’s little brother Shaun (Jordan Spratt) has committed the ultimate faux-pas of English social etiquette – he has arrived an hour early! But he’s allowed because his nerves about his best-man speech are causing him IBS issues, and there’s more he wants to discuss with big sis about love, identity and sense of self.

For Chrissie, at the height of happiness, there is still someone pulling her down; her mother is scathing about her choice of partner – however she knows the people who are most important to her, not to mention the house plant Rita (who doesn’t like swearing, but also can’t hear).

The acting was strong, energetic and feisty from the two leads with a stunning comedy moment – Zoe popping a champagne cork at just the wrong moment was so perfectly-timed, I was in awe. An accomplished directorial undertaking from first-time director, Jordan Spratt.

The night was mostly a success with just a few problems with sight lines due to the limitations of the space and actors being on the same level as the audience. Sometimes, the speech dipped and was not always audible, highlighting the need for good projection, even when the dialogue is subtle. However, let’s not dwell on minor issues.

Queertet is an LGBTQ+ celebrations with stories that span the full spectrum of the rainbow. Four plays that have one thing in common: human connection.

The characters are messy, flawed and make mistakes, fully accepting their imperfections, and perhaps they are hiding some secrets, even from themselves, but they are all loveable, the only bad apples emerging are simply spoken about – we don’t meet them.

These plays are a search for identity and acceptance, with flawed friends helping each other navigate their world of complexity and confusions. The characters are infused with spirit and buoyancy, bold as the colours they proudly display.

Well done to the whole team for producing a spectacular night of entertainment – they worked really hard to pull this off.