After realising his attraction to boys in primary school, Tim (Alec Snow) meets and falls in love with the captain of his high school football team, John (Jerome Meyer). Based on Tim Conigrave’s memoir about his 15-year relationship with John Caleo, Holding the Man is a sweet love story with a sting in the tail.
The play chronicles this fast but often rocky relationship in a time where being gay was unacceptable to the majority. There are plenty of hilarious moments, which act as an antidote to the starkly emotional scenes of revelation and most of the second act, where HIV rears its ugly head in the mid Eighties.
Adapted by Tommy Murphy and directed by David Berthold, this is a well-realised portrayal of love, pain and loss, and the humour that holds everything together. Young actors Snow and Meyer portray the excitement, tenderness and pain inherent in a long-term relationship in a believable – and at times harrowing – way. Snow narrates – a technique that can sometimes be jarring but harmonises with the other staging choices. The narration also allows Conigrave’s genuine voice to fill the room, as passages are taken directly from his writing.
Performed at La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre, Holding the Man uses minimal sets and clever, actor-driven set changes to show a rapid succession of classrooms, bedrooms, bars and dinner tables. The action doesn’t stand still for long but there is rarely any doubt of the location.
The four talented supporting cast members slip easily between their many characters, changing wigs and costumes in view of the audience – a challenging task in any play. Eugene Gilfedder alone plays 11 roles. With so much emotion at stake, this is a particularly impressive feat.
Within this imaginative staging, which at times blurs the boundaries of reality and fantasy with stereotypes and character sketches, the truth shines through. There is no room for illusion here – even the use of puppetry helps to focus on the heart of the story.
Though the themes are strong, this is not a play about AIDS. This is not a play about homosexuality and acceptance. It’s a love story showing the beauty, the ugliness and the complicated glory of relationships – a heartbreakingly honest piece that will stay with you long after you leave. Take a loved one.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Holding the Man
By Tommy Murphy
Based on the memoir by Timothy Conigrave
Director: David Berthold
Designer: Brian Thomson
Costumes and puppets: Micka Agosta
Lighting Designer: David Walters
Composer & Sound Designer: Basil Hogios
Cast: Eugene Gilfedder, Jai Higgs, Helen Howard, Lauren Jackson, Jerome Meyer & Alec Snow
Roundhouse Theatre, Kelvin Grove
16 February – 16 March
