These Gays! They're Trying To...
If you’re familiar with the HBO series White Lotus, you’ll no doubt be familiar with Jennifer Coolidge screaming ‘These gays! They’re trying to murder me!’ from the second season and it’s from this jumping off point that Brooklyn Rep have created their ‘Post-Panto Melodrama’ imagining the build up to the imaginary 5th season of White Lotus set in a luxury Icelandic hotel.
The basement of the Divine provided the perfect backdrop for this simply but imaginatively staged production with minimal scenery but great use of effects and music (more on that later). As we’re shown to our seats, the gentle hum of a theremin played by Jo Fraser evokes the ethereal soundtrack of White Lotus and as the show begins, so starts a whirlwind of interconnected and standalone stories revolving around the hotel guests and staff cleverly evoking the original series but with the humour and camp turned firmly up to 11!
We meet a gay couple looking to rekindle their romance (where it’s evident ‘work’ is the third person in this relationship to misquote Princess Diana) culminating in a magpie facial that’s almost certainly as filthy as you would imagine. We also meet a producer of White Lotus desperate to secure Amy Adams an Oscar win for playing Boudica who’s also trying to keep a hair doner for said role sober and on board during the trip. A bridezilla to be on a hen do and finally a throuple trying to make their relationship work (not made easier when one part of the throuple is Kermit the Frog…) and being Iceland, of course, there’s Bjork (the theremin wizard Jo Fraser).
As the previous paragraph probably suggests – this show rarely takes itself seriously and at times is an absolutely insane yet somehow it works. Charles Quittner brings out some hilarious performances from the ensemble cast who each take on several roles throughout the 2 hour show. Of particular note Dan de la Motte’s aloof hotel manager with the most extreme Icelandic accent would easily sit alongside Murray Bartlett and Sabrina Impacciatore of the TV series in an absurd parallel universe.
If you’re expecting a straightforward, linear story with an easy to follow plot, this probably isn’t the show for you, if however you enjoy a fast-paced satirical and camper than Christmas evening of escapism to tide you over until the next season of White Lotus then this is absolutely the show for you.
In summary, this is an original, innovative and hilarious show that features Bjork and Kermit the Frog along with Iceland’s last Bic Mac – what more could you want to see in the new year?
This show was reviewed on the 29th December 2024 at The Divine, London where it runs until the 4th January 2025. Tickets available here: THEATRE: These Gays! They’re Trying To… – The Divine
Review written by Mike Stocks
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