Away From Home, re:play festival 2014

This relentlessly energetic one-man play is less My Beautiful Launderette meets the Premier League, more Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads on speed.

The subject is homosexuality and football, a topic dramatised by Kyle (Rob Ward) who leads a peculiar but normalised life as an out-of-the-closet football devotee and secret gay sex worker. When a famous opponent player turns out to be a new client, Kyle’s carefully controlled life begins to tilt out of his control.

Theatre on social ‘issues’ is too often toe-curlingly earnest but Ward carries Away From Home with enormous presence, Scouse charm, unapologetic language and a dose of well-observed humour. Don’t let the ‘one man’ performance fool you, the stage is peopled with secondary characters that are brought to life only through Ward’s dynamic telling.

If the script is occasionally a little baggy it doesn’t hamper the performance and there are genuinely exhilarating moments. When Kyle sees his lover in a nightclub draped over an attractive would-be WAG he drunkenly hurls a well-known chant from the stands in his direction, now riddled with convoluted meaning: Who are ya? Who are ya? It’s a terrific moment and should have been the title of the play.

Ward misses neither a beat nor a line, devouring the set as he relays his unlikely tale to an unseen lover and by proxy to us.

No spoilers, but as in life there are no neat resolutions, and still no footballers out of the closet. Let’s hope when the real thing happens there’s a lot less drama.


There are two performances tomorrow,Saturday 1st of February, tickets here.

All Our Friends Are Dead, re:play festival 2014

At this year’s re:play festival, comedy pair Katie Norris and Sinead Parker continue their occasionally macabre and wilfully tasteless sketch ‘n’ song showcase ‘All Our Friends Are Dead’, as seen at the Edinburgh Fringe and elsewhere. Political correctness is ditched (seriously, nothing and nobody is out of bounds) in favour of jaw-dropping ‘you can’t say that’ moments driven by the twosome’s strong character-based comedy – think Little Britain rather than Mel and Sue.

Amongst audience favourites are corrupt versions of Disney songs, less ‘bastardised’ and more ‘made orphans of’. For instance, contrived individualism (‘I’m reading Sylvia Plath actually, but in Japanese…’) and gimmicky personality add-ons (‘Can I have a latte, and can you write my name in the foam please…’) are hilariously pulled apart in ‘Everybody Wants To Be  A Twat’. I’m still singing it now.

At this point Norris and Parker’s formidable performance skills are a small step ahead of their writing but the pace is so rollicking and the material so broad that if you don’t like one sketch there’s another one just around the corner with your name on it.

I am personally recovering from exposure to the funny/bleak persona of Brian, with his carton of juice, urine-stained trousers, and tiny wife in the attic with nothing but a hotline to Domino’s and a rocking chair to keep her company. Until now… Single to Royston Vasey please…

‘All Our Friends Are Dead’ plays again at the Lowry Studio on Thursday January 30th and Saturday February 1^st. Do not miss.

Re:play Festival 2014

The seventh (already!) re:play festival returns with gusto to The Lowry. The festival’s remit is to showcase a retrospective of the best new/fringe/cutting-edge theatre from the previous twelve months across the region. Variety is the festival’s strong point – this year’s output of fresh stage material deals with a range of issues including asylum seekers, social media dependence and homosexuality in sport, as well as staging bold new sketch comedy and an Anthony Burgess adaptation.

All Our Friends Are Dead stars comedy duo Katie Norris and Sinead Parker, riding high from an Edinburgh Fringe success with their troubling comedy sketch pieces. I last saw Katie in a wonderful turn as Olivia for a very accomplished production of Twelfth Night at the Manchester School of Theatre. I asked Katie: What’s harder, comedy or 'serious' drama?

Comedy and tragedy often merge and doing either of them well is a challenge, but there's nothing more rewarding and immediate than making an audience laugh.

Do you worry that having your comedy described as ‘dark’ might frighten people away, or do audiences have a real taste for the macabre these days?

A lot of our favourite comedy is dark, but we also strongly believe our show has something for everyone. Sometimes it is dark and a little sinister, but our main inspirations are like that, such as League of Gentlemen and Julia Davis. Most people naturally find humour in dark places because it's a coping mechanism, and that's why we do it too, it’s like therapy!

Which of the other shows at this year’s re:play are you interested in seeing/would you recommend?

We’re looking forward to seeing Away From Home. We heard such fantastic things from its run at 24/7 over the summer!

Re:play is running right now, check their website here.