Stag parties are where masculinity supposedly reveals itself, red in tooth and claw. Des’s stag do – OK, “bachelor party” – unfolds on a campsite on the Colorado river. With three friends, he’s toasting his imminent marriage – and pretty wholesomely, although his singleton pal Boardman punctures the innocence when he complains: “Why did we not get a stripper?” At this point, enter Emma: a gorgeous, intellectual writer on sex and free love, camping alone in the woods and now obliged to share riverside space with Des and his bros.
The situation is blatantly contrived to smoke out Des and co’s latent sexism, and I feared for Emma as she retreated into her tent with a “try not to murder me”. But writer Jonathan Caren has something slightly different in mind. Yes, Lyndsy Fonseca’s character is as much dramatic catalyst as credible human being, but she’s a spur to debate – about the compromises we make in monogamous partnerships; about the relationship between love and sex. She quizzes Des with disarming directness about his feelings for his fiancee. The men can’t handle the radical honesty. It picks apart the little lies that bind their band together.
Moment to moment, Teddy Bergman’s production is a pleasure to watch, powering up a palpable sexual and ideological charge. It’s beautifully played by the five-strong cast, who are entirely convincing as rumpled lifelong buddies and outspoken interloper. It’s often funny, not least when – the morning after the night before – Des is invited to “get back on the river and do the kayak of shame”. And it’s sometimes dramatic, although anxious divorcee Sean waving a hunting rifle at Boardman feels forced.
But I’m not sure that Four Woke Baes has much new to say about masculinity. Des and friends are neither notably “woke” at the start nor particularly compromised by the end. And as for sex, love and companionship, we all know, don’t we, that monogamy entails sacrifice, and that marriage isn’t necessarily compatible with a life of freedom and fearless truth. The arguments have been heard as many times as the line “Will you marry me?”. But here, at least, they’re given an entertaining airing.
At Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh until 25 August.
