This tale of a fledgling gay relationship treads familiar ground but has enough charm to keep a thinnish plot interesting.
16 March 2022
The King’s Head Theatre has a long and honourable history of producing new plays and content with LGBT+ themes. Bren Gosling’s ‘Proud’, energetically directed by Marlie Haco, draws on both traditions, if not adding enormously to either.
Taofique Folarin plays Roland, a 40-something surveyor for the London council, with an estranged wife and a troubled 15-year-old son, Gary. In my limited experience Haringey council surveyors are not generally as buff and easy-on-the-eye at Folarin, but hell, this is show-business.
On his way home from working out who should Roland stumble upon but 21-year-old street sweeper Amir, a Syrian refugee with PTSD and a particular fear of helicopters. In a dramatic contrivance you can safely assume you will not see repeated elsewhere, Roland invites Amir home for a change of clothes (don’t ask). So begins an unlikely relationship between the two, with a requisite amount of dramatic vacillation and uncertainly on both sides complicating the journey.
The emerging bond between Amir and Roland is complicated by latter’s fraught relationship with son Gary, played engagingly by Kaine Hatukai. Gary cannot quite figure out why his dad left his evangelical Christian mum, and has his own troubles at school, which leads to truth-telling and confessions on all sides.
Aside from love, what connects the three characters is a shared passion for, you guessed it, basketball. This is played out on stage with energetic ball dribbling, blocking, and hoop-shooting. I am guessing this was meant to be metaphor for the fraught relationships between the three characters, but I found it almost overwhelming in the intimacy of the King’s Head space.
More effective was the genuinely touching use of dance choreography to depict the growing physical tenderness between the two lovers.
The play’s themes around homophobia and commitment have been explored better elsewhere, but Gosling gives his characters a journey to take and something to say. Andrei Maniata who plays Amir particularly impresses, with an understated performance that hints at the horrors of growing up in Aleppo rather than throwing it full in your face. Kaine Hatukai and Taofique Folarin are both energetic and interesting to watch.
Proud deserves to be produced and seen, and offers an engaging, often charming 90-minutes that will leave you upbeat. Kudos to King’s Head Theatre for giving it space.
Duration: 90 mins. No interval.
Writer Bren Gosling
Director & Producer Marlie Haco
Production Company Double Telling
Roland Taofique Folarin
Amir Andrei Maniata
Gary Kaine Hatukai
Full Disclosure: I paid full box-office price for the ticket.
