Out in the Open

Synopsis

Tony's ready to live again. Love and live it large. But his efforts to step back onto the scene are hampered by a secret his friends, Monica and Kevin, should have told him a long time ago. Out in the Open is a funny and caustic exploration of love and the limits of friendship, set over a long, hazily-hot summer weekend in London. This show contains strong language.

Our Review:

23 March 2001

Note: The following review dates from March 2001 and the production's first run at the Hampstead Theatre.

Jonathan Harvey is always a playwright to watch, and in his latest work, he amply confirms the promise displayed so poignantly in Beautiful Thing in the mid-1990s.

A group of friends gather over the course of a long summer weekend, united by their sympathy for the bereaved Tony who has recently lost his long-term lover Frankie. Set in the garden of Tony's flat, all the action takes place within this one setting, inevitably creating an intimate, tense atmosphere that is perfectly suited to the coruscating revelations that will emerge over the course of this protracted weekend.

Although most of Harvey's characters here happen to be gay, there's no sense of him targeting a specific group to the exclusion of all else. The most prejudiced audience members may possibly shy away from the subject matter, but for everyone else, the sheer humanity and p...

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