My Son’s a Queer, (But what can you do?)
The Ambassadors Theatre • 25 Jan - 18 Mar 2023
There was a wry smile on my face as I approached the Ambassadors Theatre given it was here, just five months previously, that I had seen Cock! for the very first time. No… get your heads out of the gutter! I am of course referring to Mike Bartlett’s play that saw actor, and Jack The Lad cover star Joel Harper Jackson (Issue 28) unexpectedly transform from understudy to bona fide West End star with his triumphant take over from Taron Egerton, who had left the show early on in its run due to personal reasons. It was an incredible moment in a young actors career and a memory that still has the ability to make me smile. That being said, I was equally excited to finally be seeing My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?). I had heard the buzz around the production after it’s brief appearance at The Garrick Theatre for a two week run back in October last year, and had caught what I think might have been a ‘work in progress’ preview when Rob appeared on the bill for “Legends Of Lockdown”, a variety show featuring performers who had appeared in our lives to entertain us through their social media channels during the long weeks of lockdown. This was in June of ’22 and despite Madge’s allotted time in the show being just ten minutes, it had been more than enough to make me want to see more, and I was ready to finally discover wether the reality was going to live up to the hype.
I needn’t have worried, as never has the phrase ‘born to perform’ been more appropriate, not only because of Rob Madge’s self assured performance on stage, but the evidence was also there for all to see in the old VHS footage (younger readers may need to google what a VHS is!), that periodically gets played into the performance, clearly documenting Madge’s love, or more specifically ‘need’ to perform, and from a ridiculously young age we are shown their unbridled love of Disney musicals, a love of putting on shows for their family, and a love of dressing up… not, as might have been expected in the living room of the families suburban Coventry home, as the prince from the many animated features they so adored, but as the Princess. On screen the young Rob is a confident, precocious child with a wild enough imagination to attempt the recreation of a full Disney parade in the family living room. It is as hilarious in its conception as it is in its execution, given it’s safe to say not everything goes as planned. Full marks have to be given to the family however for committing so much of Rob’s early life to tape, (although, with their repetitive cries of ‘Are you filming this?’ at any given moment, one suspects the family might not always have had a choice!)
As surprised as the younger Rob might have been to find they would still be performing that parade so many years later, just what they might have thought about performing it on a stage in a London West End theatre, for a run of sold out performances with their name outside in huge yellow letters, just might have been enough to blow their mind… or would it… given the clips also suggest that the young Madge had all the confidence and precociousness to have believed, even at such a young age, that their dream was entirely possible of coming true… just as Disney had taught us. That’s not to say the journey was always an easy one for Madge, and their struggle to make friends at school is not ignored during the telling of this story.
It’s not hard to imagine how different things could have been had Mr and Mrs Madge not been so accommodating to their son’s innate need to perform and their honesty of expression. The video’s of the young son roping their Dad in to perform in their imaginary world are both charming and touching, not to mention hilariously funny as, more often than not, Madge jnr is found scolding their be-wigged father for not sticking to the script. With Madge being front and centre of the story, both on stage and in the video footage, this could very quickly have become little more than an exercise in ‘look at me, aren’t I funny’, except there’s much more to this journey than just ‘me, me, me’, and as the production continues it’s their family that slowly reveal themselves to be the real heroes of the show, becoming an exceptional example of support and encouragement when others around their son are not so understanding. This is quite an emotional touchpoint, knowing that many queer people in the audience, myself included, won’t have been quite so lucky at home.
For this West End run, (having already been seen at The Garrick, The Turbine and the Edinburgh Festival), we are transported back to Madge’s living room, but it has been given a suitably glamorous makeover. (Set Designer, Ryan Dawson Laight) It’s still all sideboards, armchairs (and more lampshades than you can shake a stick at) but it all looks… well, just kind of fabulous! With a glint in their eye, Madge is not unlike a young Alan Cumming, sprite like and mischievous in the telling of their story, but despite the high camp that takes place on a colour saturated stage, Madge strangely opts to spend most of the show in a rather plain, ’taupe’ coloured vest and boxer shorts… but hang on in there as all that changes when they finally gets to realise their childhood dream and perform their Disney parade one more time!
A proper shot of feel good theatre that will have you laughing uncontrollably in your seat, but expect to feel a few tugs at your heartstrings along the way!
★★★★★
review: Simon J. Webb
photographs: Mark Senior