Wed 29 Apr 2015 In: Performance View at Wayback View at NDHA
The Girl and The Gay Starring Jordan Blaikie and Chelsea McEwan Millar Basement Theatre, Auckland, until May 2nd. Much is made of those awkward ages when a child is becoming a teenager or a teenager becoming a young adult, but the transition between the freewheeling invincibility-with-money of young adulthood and the implications of maturity is less explored. This is the territory that gay playwright Sam Brooks dives into in The Girl and The Gay. The Gay is earnest, unsure, self- and celebrity-trivia-obsessed and despairing after yet another relationship with yet another user of a boyfriend has fallen apart. He's a gentle spirit lacking confidence. The Girl is stranded with a lack-lustre CV made-up of fill-in jobs, with enough moxie to stand up to others but insufficient self-confidence to take control of her own life. Brooks' strength is snappy dialogue and his ear and eye for the good and bad of contemporary pop culture is remarkable. So there is a kind of cheerful grimness to these two flawed lives, brought convincingly to life by Jordan Blaikie and Chelsea McEwan Millar. Blaikie beautifully embodies the soulful little rabbit who needs to stand up and roar like a big 'ol bear. McEwan Millar is by turns beguilingly sweet and corrosively sour, giving glimpses of the humanity she hides behind her protective armour. As they grapple with their changing circumstances these two long-time friends need and lean on each other. Without giving too much away the outcome is promising. At one hour long without interval The Girl and The Gay is just long enough, it holds our attention and neatly turns our frustration with this pair into rooting for them. Packed with wit and wisdom, it's a gem. - Jay Bennie Ticket info here Jay Bennie - 29th April 2015