Venue: New Theatre (Newtown NSW), Feb 6 – Mar 9, 2024
Playwright: Jordan Seavey
Director: Alex Kendall Robson
Cast: Axel Berecry, Sonya Kerr, Eddie O’Leary, Reuben Solomon
Images by Chris Lundie
Theatre review
Jordan Seavey’s Homos, or Everyone in America takes place between 2006 and 2011, with the relationship between two unnamed Manhattanites as its central focus. New York and the United States provide the backdrop and political context, in which we examine modern gay life in Northern America. The young men bicker and fight throughout the play, as we look at the more dramatic moments of their time together.
Direction by Alex Kendall Robson is correspondingly turbulent, as we witness the couple’s volatility at various points of their 5-year history. The narrative is presented anachronistically, resulting in a somewhat poetic, if slightly chaotic, theatrical presentation. Production design by Zara Pittioni creates effective visual spatial demarcations, but the lack of scenery walls requires performers to speak loudly, to overcome acoustic limitations. Lead actors Eddie O’Leary and Reuben Solomon are generally persuasive and very well-rehearsed, but the unmodulated volume of their speech can prove grating.
Supporting players are Sonya Kerr who brings an enjoyable precision, and Axel Berecry whose mischievous disposition leaves an impression. Also noteworthy are lighting design offering variety to the imagery being showcased, along with sound and music by David Wilson, assisting proficiently with tension and energy, in a show about the Big Apple.
The gays yell a lot in Homos, or Everyone in America, maybe because they have experienced little tenderness, in a world that has for far too long, regarded them only with contempt and disdain. Traditional modes of masculinity further prevents them from accessing softer aspects of being human, qualities necessary for making intimate relationships work. The damage done by homophobia and sexism, is extensive and exhaustive. Legislation can change things overnight, but what happens in the souls of the downtrodden, will take generations to heal.
Suzy Goes See 