The Boys In The Band: West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
MART Crowley's play, with its open depiction of American gay life and love, must have been a bit of an eye-opener when first staged in 1968. The set-up is simple: a birthday party given by his friends for the waspish Harold provides the battleground for much bitching, betrayal and backstabbing as an excess of alcohol and weed releases tongues and inhibitions with violence, both verbal and physical, never far from the surface.
Some might say it seems dated now but given a production as slick and smooth as this revival under Adam Penford's direction, these Boys are a timely reminder of the fears and anxieties suffered by homosexuals in less enlightened times. The cast extract much humour from characters that veer dangerously close to caricature but here – as in James Holmes' marvellous turn as the limp-wristed Emory – the stereotypes become flesh and blood,
North-East born actor Mark Gatiss is the best-known name in the cast (thanks to his association with TV's Doctor Who and Sherlock) and is given a great end-of-the-first act entrance as Harold whose birthday party triggers of a nasty game designed to expose home truths as host Michael (an excellent Ian Hallard, Gatiss's real life husband) takes sadistic delight in putting the pressure on the party guests.
Daniel Boys, John Hopkins, Greg Lockett, Ben Mansfield, Nathan Nolan and ex-EastEnder Jack Derges (a real treat as the dim hustler given to Harold as a birthday present) fill out the exceptional cast.
* Runs until Saturday. Box Office: 0113-213-7700 or wyp.org.uk
Steve Pratt
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