Breeding
Kings Head Theatre • 19th April - 7th May
Breeding, by Barry McStay is that rare thing, a new play that I find myself coming to with absolutely no prior knowledge of any of the cast or creatives involved, all excitingly unfamiliar to me despite the number of productions I have been sent to review over an 8 year period for Jack The Lad. Even rarer is that those more familiar faces were actually still in the room, but this time as audience members who, from their apparent indifference to each other had all arrived independently for this packed press night performance at The Kings Head Theatre in Islington. With this much support by so many from within the profession, I could only imagine it was a good sign for what was to come.
As the lights dimmed, the cast of three took to the simple set, the most noticeable feature being the raised central stage that had been constructed from glass bricks. This being the Kings Head, who often programme more than one production to play on any given night, it’s never exactly clear what play the set has been purposely designed for, and what play has inherited it from another production, but as the action at the beginning of this play quickly turns to flashback, and the floor becomes a mosaic of multicolour lights as a way to recreate the nightclub where Zeb (Daniel Nicholson) and Eoin (Barry McStay) first meet, I start to think this just might have been purpose built for Breeding (Ceci Calf), if not on a very serendipitous loan. Either way, we’re into the action, and right from the start I’m impressed at how the opening scene unfolds. Zen and Eoin’s dialogue crackles along at a pace, it having a dense staccato rhythm, the hilarious conversation not only laying the groundwork for who these two characters are as people, but also what McStay is capable of as a playwright. It’s quite a bold statement, given we are only just a couple of minutes into the play, but the naturalistic flow of the dialogue immediately comes to life in the confident performances of the two actors, directed here by Matthew Iliffe.
From the couples first kiss in the club we are transported to a more recent moment in the couples timeline where, now married, they are in their flat about to embark on the process of adopting a child. The process is fraught with an intense amount of scrutiny, (a real insight into what gay, and presumably straight couples wanting to adopt can find themselves being subjected to), and it is their assigned social worker Beth, (Aamira Challenger) whose job it is to collect the data from which the assessment panel will make their final decision. It’s a great premise that as an idea feels just about as fresh as the cast themselves. It also feels long overdue as a subject to find its place in the canon of modern queer theatre.
When Beth observes “Two hes - Gays! You get more and more of them now”, she’s not wrong, the plays relevance being undeniable. One of the first friends I made after moving to London went on to get married (I was best man), and adopted 3 children. Another ‘fun fact’ is that at least three people (that I know of) who have appeared in the pages of Jack The Lad over the last 8 years have also gone on to have children, two by adoption and one via a surrogate. Add to that the increasing number of same sex couples that have started to regularly appear on my social media feeds, and ‘Breeding’ suddenly feels exceptionally of its time.
Despite this being a very funny play however, McStay does not sugar coat the process. Zeb and Eoin’s relationship being made all the more fascinating by the way they become increasingly strange bedfellows with the more we find out about them, and as they try to deal with their own fears and doubts about how a child might fundamentally change the life they have built together, they are also faced with a constant stream of deeply probing questions that throws up further self scrutiny as the arduous process begins to take its toll.
As if that’s not enough, things become even more complicated by a life-changing secret Zeb and Owen have yet to share with Beth, and as the play progresses, the mood shifts. McStay throws a number of curveballs into the mix to give what has otherwise been a bright comedy some real emotional gravitas. This journey might have begun with tears of laughter but be prepared, like many of the audience (myself included), for there to be a rather more heartfelt tear in your eye by the end.
The only criticism I had as I left the theatre is that the play was actually too short. (Not a sentence I find myself writing that often). With such credible characters and a wonderfully observed dynamic between them, Breeding could easily have sustained a longer run time, or if I had my way, the story would get picked up for a 3 part TV drama, which I truly believe it could easily sustain. With such well defined characters at the centre of this thoroughly engaging story, I would have happily spent more time in the company of Zeb, Eoin and Beth to see their journey given even more space to unfold. As it stands the play is a tight, wonderfully written hour. I hope it gets an extended life, but if it doesn’t we are certainly here for whatever Barry McStay feels inclined to write about next, until then this is definitely a play you should go and check out for yourself.
★★★★★
review: Simon J. Webb