Reviewed by Nikki Cotter

Opening Night verdict ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Written by and starring Jack Holden, Cruise was the first new play to open in the West End post lockdown and has since gone on to complete sell-out runs in London’s Duchess and Apollo Theatres as well as picking up an Olivier nomination along the way. 

Based on a phone call Holden received when working atLGBTQ+ charity, Switchboard, the play brings caller Michael’s memories of his time in Soho during the 1980’s to brilliant and believable life. As Michael embarks on a journey of self-discovery, Holden skillfully evokes Soho of the 80’s in all its decadent, drug-fueled glory while recounting a devastating HIV diagnosis at a time when seeing out more than a handful of years post diagnosis was crushingly unlikely for most.

Given only four years to live, Michael and his partner ‘Slutty Dave’ are determined to live what life they do have left to the absolute fullest, making the square mile of Soho their playground while they still can.

This one man play is far for a single character performance as Holden introduces us to multiple characters with blistering speed and enthusiasm. The eclectic mix of personalities are all delivered with captivating skill by Holden as they share with us their own stories of hope, joy and tragedy.

Holden’s poetic script never faulters, one moment you’re laughing at a glorious drag performance, the next you’re breaking your heart at the brutality of a diagnosis with no apparent cure. Holden has an incredible ability to draw you in and keeps every member of tonight’s Manchester audience enthralled, never knowing quite where this rollercoaster of hedonism and heart will take us. We soon realise we’re headed for 1988 and what should be Michael’s last night on earth and the complexity and sense of urgency this brings.

Bronagh Lagan has directed Holden with confidence, allowing him the freedom to really tell this story. Each character is well-rounded and filled with life, making the losses we learn of feel all the more real. While this is a one man play, Holden is not alone on stage, aside from the multiple characters he creates he’s also joined by musician and composer John Patrick Elliot who brings Soho to thumping life with his electronic soundtrack, stamping his influence on this powerful piece with pounding house and rhythmic disco.

This one act play running at approximately 100 minutes will lift you up, touch your heart and remind you of the importance of human connection. An exhilarating piece of theatre that serves as a perfect tribute to all it so brilliantly celebrates.

Cruise is on at Manchester’s HOME until Saturday 12th August tickets available here.

Reviewed by Nikki Cotter

Opening Night verdict ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Marking the opening of Manchester International Festival, Kimber Lee’s ‘Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play’ officially opened at the Royal Exchange this weekend, resulting in a thunderous standing ovation which will no doubt be repeated nightly during the four week run.

Lee highlights the absurdity of the stereotypical portrayal of Asian women in Western created entertainment with razor sharp skill and wonderful wit, resulting in a fierce and fast paced piece that somehow remains laugh out loud funny while poignantly challenging the interpretations we’ve been served for generations.

Taking a dive into the likes of Madam Butterfly, South Pacific, Miss Saigon and M*A*S*H, Lee quickly and convincingly shows us just how absurd the characters in these oh so familiar pieces are.

Opening with an initial examination of Madam Butterfly which received its US premiere in 1906, Kim (Mei Mac) is offered as a bride by her mother Cio Cio (Lourdes Faberes) to the square jawed, all-American Clark (Tom Weston-Jones) in a bid for a better life for the whole family. Their American dream however never materialised as the inevitable tragic, yet devastatingly poetic, consequences of that fateful romance play out. This scene is then repeated multiple times albeit in different decades as South Pacific, M*A*S*H and Miss Saigon take their turn under the microscope. The repetition cleverly highlighting the cliches accepted so willingly by many audiences over the years.

Narrator Rochelle Rose guides us brilliantly through each scene, acting both as translator for Clark who throws out random words linked vaguely to the general location whilst assuming he’s speaking fluently to his new bride and author of the piece. Her easy delivery highlighting further the absurdity of the assumptions made by the writers of each tragic story. Each repetition grows more frenetic and absurd as Director Roy Alexander Weise ramps up the physicality for our tragic heroine Kim (Mei Mac).

Following the blistering first hour the second part of the play moves to the more sedate surroundings of a modern day New York loft apartment where the opportunity for Kim to examine whether anything has actually changed occurs. Interestingly it is also at this point that Lourdes Faberes delivers a speech reminiscing about how the older generation had no objections to how they were portrayed and instead took delight in seeing themselves represented on stage.

This play never tells us what we should think or feel, its beauty lies in its ability to make us question ourselves and our own complicity in misrepresentation and issues of race. The complexity presented before us is made engagingly accessible, whilst offering a hope for the future that the misrepresentations and the damage caused can become confined to the history books. Hugely entertaining theatre that speaks loudly and proudly from the heart.

UNTITLED F*CK M*SS S**GON PLAY is on at Manchester’s Royal Exchange theatre until 22nd July tickets available here.