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Fringe REVIEW: Passing On @Sweet Werks 1

This heart-rending and passionate play is about a gay couple who for once are not facing issues surrounding Aids. This tragic tale of a married gay couple in Ireland centres on their heartfelt wish to have a baby through a surrogate mother, their lawyer friend Jane.

BUT ironically in planning for the future a terrible past is uncovered for Tom, played by Steve Kenneally, and that past leads to the central theme of life, death, guilt, anger and overpowering grief.

This is not a show for the faint-hearted. But written sensitively and in very down to earth language by Sean Denyer, and staged by the Dublin-based award-winning LGBT theatre group Acting Out and Blue Heart Theatre, it investigates the ins and outs of gay parenting in a highly entertaining if dark mood.

In trying to find his biological parents, Tom discovers he has the  incurable Huntington’s disease , inherited from his now-dead mother.

The play’s interest is in the working out of this tragedy amid the joy of the birth of their son, and Brian, played by Brian Gaughran is a passionate foil to Tom’s fatalistic view of life.

The  play progresses in very short episodes which are occasionally out of time sequence and I wonder if the language couldn’t be heightened slightly to poeticise the tragedy and help us distance ourselves from it. As it is written it is a very difficult piece to sit through calmly and there were many tear-creating moments.

What carries the piece is the wonderful chemistry between the two main actors who go through every emotion possible in a highly believable and electrically charged performance.

Preparing ourselves for one tragedy, we are ultimately faced with an unexpected turn of events which I won’t reveal.

This is a very important piece of modern theatre, with the humanity of a loving relationship at its heart. It deserves to play to big audiences. Please go see it if you can.

Passing On is at Sweet Werks 1, in Middle Street until May 24.

To book tickets online, click here:

Reviewed by Brian Butler

Fringe REVIEW: Fix my Brain @The Warren

 

Fix My Brain

Two Surnames

The Warren

May 21

FIX my brain is fun and the boys have certainly done their work, they stay in character throughout, apart from when they poke some fun though their semi permeable fourth wall. The use of lighting to indicate flashback, or fantasy is fun and works well for visual jokes.

This pair has pedigree being ex-Presidents of the Footlights and at Brighton Fringe Dillon and Oli present their debut show all about friendship, depression and crushing existential dread.

There’s a lot of writing in this hour, the boys pack their jokes in and although the majority of them work the seriously rapid nature of the narrative doesn’t really give a lot of time for some of the jokes to settle. They are all delivered with the same deadpan dry delivery which again lets some of the quality jokes slip past some folk in the audience. A pity as a few of them are slow burners. It was difficult to tell if it was the amount of material they had to get though, first night nerves or intent to come across as busy and nerdy which stopped them taking a few well-judged moments of quiet to let the jokes spread out and do their stuff.

The lads drown in and draw on their own experiences of depression; sinking, gasping for air, then both doing perfectly choreographed mental synchronised swimming, it’s gloomy and daft. Their working in the Mental Health world also gives this show some serious traction in reality. They take time to appreciate the little things in life, and how they have failed to save them from despair

This pair are engaging as co-dependant saddo’s trapped in their existential despair while trying to be the fun lads they think they should be. It’s an interesting deconstruction on the comedy lad duet and I enjoyed their mucking about with masculine pressure and expectations, but it’s the tenderness at the heart of their on stage friendship which brings the best out of them. When they are trying hard to be seen not to be trying too hard or assuming away about the other lads feelings and feeding their self-absorbed neurosis then they are at their darkest and funniest.

Not scared to look at some darker subjects around mental health but also so deadpan that the depth is somehow given the same weight as a throwaway line, this apparently, deceptively simple comedy bromance had a lot going for it.

There’s a lot to like in Fix my Brain and the two gents who work hard to make us like them succeed, in spite of their delivery of nerdy downplaying and rucksacks full of insecurities. They are sweet, which must be a terrible thing to call a comedian, but that consideration for each other is pretty unique in a world of brash loud laddish comics and well worth a peek at.

Play until May 22

For full info on this show, click here:

Three local beaches receive Blue Flag and Seaside Awards for 2018

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy presents 190 awards to England’s very best beaches, including 65 international Blue Flags and 125 Seaside Awards (eight more than last year), with 42 beaches achieving both awards.

THIS includes awards to Brighton & Hove City Council for Brighton Central Beach (Blue Flag), Hove Lawns (Blue Flag) and Saltdean (Seaside Award).

Brighton Central, Hove Lawns and Saltdean join the country’s very best beaches, from popular holiday spots to quiet, more hidden-away spots. All are clean, safe and meet the highest environmental standards, as well as the tough international bathing water quality standards.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton, said: “When you enjoy a trip to a beach flying an international Blue Flag or Seaside Award, you know you are on one of the safest, cleanest and very best in the country.”

Cllr Alan Robins
Cllr Alan Robins

Cllr Alan Robins, chair of BHCC’s Tourism, Development & Culture Committee, said: “We’re delighted to have our beaches endorsed as among the UK’s best.  It takes an enormous amount of concerted effort by a great number of people to achieve these standards. 

“Special thanks must go to our beach cleaning teams, national and community beach cleaning volunteer groups, the dedicated Seafront Office and Beach Lifeguard Team and our partners at Southern Water who are always looking at methods and measures to improve the water quality along our coastline.”

Chris Ingall, Brighton & Hove’s seafront operations manager, added: “This is great recognition for everyone’s hard work.  As a city we’re promoting the reduction of single use plastics and removal of waste from our beaches. There is still a lot to be done but the tide is turning on this global issue.  

“My message to everyone who comes to our lovely beachfront is to please be considerate, use the bins provided, recycle where possible and leave the place tidy for everyone to enjoy!”

Keep Britain Tidy cares for the environment on your doorstep. They work to eliminate littering, reduce waste and improve public space, running programmes including Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces and the Blue Flag/Seaside Awards for beaches.

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