Reviews for 2 Grumpy Gay Men - Loitering With Intention
Manchester Salon (www.manchestersalon.org)
Reviewed by Marie-Anne McGibbon July 2011
Having been an ardent follower of the TV series of Grumpy Old Men/Women, I suppose I came into this performance with some pre- conceived ideas. How different could it be?
Well! It was scripted, and actually had the sub-plot of a story. I would also like to say, I enjoyed it more than its' TV counterpart. The script was brilliantly written (by Neil Dymond-Green and Alasdair Jarvie), with clever, sharp observations. The actors (Philip Knight and Patrick Lally), showed excellent comic timing to good effect. It did help to have local knowledge, to appreciate some of the comments, but I don't feel this would have detracted from the overall comedy of the performance for any visitor to Manchester.
I loved Philips portrayal of William, which sometimes reminded me of 'Kevin' of Harry Enfields creation. He and Patrick seemed to blend together effortlessly, creating a fast moving conversation about personal frustrations of life in general and gay men in particular. All of which made the audience sympathise and empathise simultaneously.
The audience itself was a mixed bag, in terms of age and gender, but were as one in their appreciation of the performance. All in all, a very enjoyable evening, made more so by the sub plot as to why they were in the waiting room! You will have to go to see the play to discover this!!
Pink Triangle Theatre (http://www.pinktriangletheatre.co.uk/)
Review by Paul Burgess
Myself and the Hubby (Jason Bromley) really had no idea what to expect from a recent viewing of a new production by 'New Attitude Theatre company'. It's simple yet wordy title, '2 Grumpy Gay Men *Loitering with Intention*', not really giving that much away, other than exactly what was written on the tin. The two writers (Neil Dymond-Green and Alasdair Jarvie), are new names to me. Or should I say, they were.
Of the two Actors in this production (Philip Knight and Patrick Lally), we already knew Philip, having spent time at College with him an eon ago. In fact, he was at the party, at my home, during which my relationship with Jason began some 14 years ago. We were very much looking forward to seeing what he was up to these days.
With all the usual hustle and bustle of drinkers and diners upstairs in the very dynamic Taurus Bar on Canal St, we made our way down to the room now often used for performances and such, and this was the first of many pleasant surprises. I've seen a few things here in this room, my own company (Pink Triangle Theatre) has performed there ourselves, not even a year ago, but I'd never seen the room this well set out. The perfect little Theatre. A simple set, some music, let the show begin.
William and Ben are likeable and in many ways familiar Characters, right from the start. Their banter and subject matter is current, topical, natural, real and funny. The Characters are strong, incredibly well played, believable and even though in some ways similar, they are very different.
I laughed aplenty, as did Jason and seemingly everyone else watching this little mystery unfold. Where were we being take? Why? When will we get there? None of this really mattered, because what was happening right now was engaging, energetic and extremely entertaining. (My apologies for the over use of words beginning with e there)
I fell in love with William and Ben, who wouldn't?
The story unfolded gently, and there was a lot more to it than first met the eye, more than I think any of us audience members expected. We laughed, we agreed, we empathised, we understood, and after a great story, told impeccably well, we all realised that this journey we had all been taken on had led somewhere unexpected.
Somewhere really quite lovely.
I adore having such a broad spectrum of emotions titillated when watching something new, I wasn't disappointed.
Watch out for this show, this company, these writers and actors alike.
This New Attitude is a good attitude.
Five out of Five Stars for me personally.
I sincerely hope it gets a longer run somewhere soon, and that you take any opportunity to see it.
As for Jason and I, we would definitely see it again.
Yes, it really was that good.
Large Manchester (www.largemanchester.com)
Reviewed by Alexandra Rucki
Benjamin and William are loitering, but it is not clear what their intention is. 2 Grumpy Gay Men - Loitering With Intention comprises of just two actors, playing regular visitors of Manchester's gay village.
Benjamin, played by Patrick Lally, is representative of the contemporary world, using his iPhone 4 to vent his anger. In contrast, William (Philip Knight), five years older, does not care about how many friends he has on Facebook and prefers to sip from a flask of vodka tonic he has stashed in his pocket.
The pair debate on a range of political topics ranging from ID cards, the ageing population and John Barrowman.
A large bulk of the plot focuses on the changing landscape of Canal Street. Ben is desperate to get tickets for Pride 2012 already, but William is less than enthusiastic to watch another D-list celeb in an overcrowded bar - raising the question does Pride still carry the same political message it did in the past?
And then there is Russell T Davies spoiling it for everyone with his creation of Queer as Folk, attracting all the undesirables and hen-do's.
It is not revealed until the very end what the pair are waiting for.
The play was gripping and tackled the subject of modern LGBT culture in an intelligent and thought-provoking way.
The only gripe is that there were quite a few Canal Street in-jokes that maybe not everybody would understand, although the majority of the audience seemed to understand what a twink was.
