Here's one that Tim Fountain tossed off in his lunch hour. It was originally entitled Deep Rimming in Poplar when it was first seen in Glasgow, but has been renamed, possibly to avoid offending sensitive London types. It concerns Reg (Bette Bourne), a gay drag artist in a long-term but stale and largely sexless relationship. As he reaches pensionable age he discovers sex on the internet and embarks on an affair with the gorgeous young Hotboi.
At Edinburgh this year, Fountain caused controversy with his live internet-based show Sex Addict during the course of which he would make online contact with a willing sex partner. Every evening the audience would wave Fountain off on his bicycle as he headed for his tryst; the next night he would report back on what happened.
There are echoes of that show in this monologue, but repackaged in old-fashioned romantic comedy mode as Reg discovers that, while sex with Hotboi may be sizzling, companionship with his butcher friend Terry is worth more. This would all be pleasant enough, if the writing wasn't so lazy. There are some fabulous one-liners, but fabulous one-liners do not make a play; nor does a name check of well-known gay haunts and characters.
It may be the theatre of recognition for the show's core audience, but it also makes the evening resemble a gay talking version of Yellow Pages. Even the structure and time sequence don't make much sense.
That this isn't a complete waste of time is due entirely to Bourne, a performer who exudes the raffish charm of Joe Orton crossed with the cuddliness of Winnie the Pooh and a whiff of something more fragile. Bourne gives the piece a genuine emotional charge, and he does it without appearing to be acting at all.
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