@ C cubed, Edinburgh, until Sun 30 Aug 2015 @ 20:45
Backstage in a New York drag club Arnold Beckoff transforms into his stage persona Virginia Hamm and reflects on life and love. It’s 1971. (Are there any plays out there reflecting 21st-century LGBT life?) This two-hander was first performed by its writer Harvey Fierstein who also starred in the 1988 movie Torch Song Trilogy in which International Stud was part one.
CJ de Mooi is Arnold, no longer the world-weary Brooklynite of the original but a nervy refugee from somewhere below Mason Dixon. CJ is best known as a panellist in TV quiz show Eggheads. The International Stud (the after-work bar with backroom action) is where Arnold meets Ed (an impressive Reed Stokes) and they start a doomed affair. Who knows what the Grindr generation makes of all this tragicomic handwringing although the message ‘you’ll never get respect if you don’t be yourself’ is as relevant as ever.
Unfortunately CJ doesn’t convince. He’s not a natural comedian nor (despite fishnets and falsies) a convincing knock-‘em-dead drag artiste. There is little of the warmth and generosity of Fierstein’s wrenchingly emotional tour d’ horizon conveyed here. Flawlessly memorising the lines is not enough. One thing’s for sure. You’ll never again watch Eggheads in quite the same way.
There are plenty of 21st century LGBT plays this year at the Fringe – try “This much” “I went to a fabulous party” and “Five drinks” for a start off! In terms of this play, I couldn’t disagree more. That Arnold wasn’t a ‘knock ’em dead’ drag artiste was the point – he’s older; past his youthful exuberance; ‘left on the shelf’. Which is why his search for love and comments about his successes, or lack there of, are so convincing and all the more poignant. The lines are not meant to be funny, but sharp and poignant, and are delivered with a sardonic wit and sarcasm befitting of the best queens there are. And the date? Well, it was written then rather than written now about the past. Isn’t it a reflection of how far things have come for LGBT folks since they CAN use Grindr and not have to go through the hell of back rooms and wondering if he’ll call?
A fabulous performance leaving lots to reflect on. Five stars.
Currently wondering what the point of having a comments and reply section is if you don’t then publish the response?
We do. But we’re a band of volunteers working flat out to cover as many shows as possible, so if we’re a little behind on publishing comments, you’ll have to forgive us.