Can we love two people equally? Is a gay relationship – which won’t generally populate the world – natural or acceptable?
This frisky, oddly old fashioned show – which wears its seriousness lightly – did very well at the Edinburgh Fringe last year and it’s easy to see why. A five hander, it wittily explores gay experience through the template of the Adam and Eve story. The jokes are joyfully disrespectful of history and chronology. “That’s fine for Sweden but not for Eden” and “Just google it”. There’s even a half-hearted Donald Trump joke.
Each song is effective enough in context – and Wayne Moore’s score ranges over a whole spectrum of styles from jazz to music hall and lyrical to patter. Some of it is quite jolly but there is nothing remotely memorable here. It’s music which serves a purpose and then we move on.
Joseph Robinson is a suitably innocent but warm Adam with a light tenor voice. Dale Adams, as Steve, flits about the stage smiling beatifically in a nicely exaggerated pleased-with-himself man created to “mate” with Adam because Beelzebub (Stephen McGlynn – entertaining) wilfully subverts God’s plan. Michael Christopher’s God is mostly off stage but vociferous until he appears to do a very funny old roués’ vaudeville boaters-and-sticks routine with McGlynn. Hayley Hampson is sweet and rueful as Eve waiting for God to invent sex and singing meanwhile in a pretty soprano.
At the heart of this show – beneath the jokes – is a serious exploration of love and relationships. Some of the reflections are quite poignant. And it’s that balance which makes it a worthwhile 75 minutes of theatre.
Review by Susan Elkin