The Pride

Synopsis

The 1958 Philip is in love with Oliver, but married to Sylvia. The 2008 Oliver is addicted to sex with strangers. Sylvia loves them both. The Pride examines changing attitudes to sexuality over a period of 50 years, looking at intimacy, identity and the courage it takes to be who you really are.

Our Review:

3 December 2008

Gay life either side of the liberationist divide is the self-evident topic of actor-turned-writer Alexi Kaye Campbell's highly accomplished debut play. But his real attentions are directed toward loneliness as it is experienced by three people with the same names separated by 50 years. The result covers some ground comparable to Nicholas de Jongh's Plague Over England, seen earlier this year, but with the Gielgud celebrity factor here replaced by two triangular relationships that bleed into and away from one another - and leave the audience at times aching, too.

In 1958 London, we first encounter the married estate agent, Philip (JJ Feild) as he enters into a four-month relationship with a well-travelled writer called Oliver, whom Bertie Carvel, in a riveting performance, plays with a smile that has clearly known its share of disappointment. Their burgeoning liaison makes a decidedly awkward outsider of Philip's wife, Sylvia, an onetime actress who brokered the...

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Latest User Review

Matt Woods - 3 December 2008:

You can't help but admire the strength of the acting, and the script does has some nice touching moments, but ultimatley the play has nothing new to say about modern gay life. It feels dated, even though it is obvioulsy new....

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