Review | Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz at Minerva Theatre, Chichester: 'Funny, thoughtful and utterly charming'
Over the years, the Festival Theatre has attracted the crème de la crème of theatre and film to grace its stage.
But it is also playing its part in discovering the talent of tomorrow – as proven by this three night stint over at the Minerva.
Nathan Queeley-Dennis is on the up: winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022, Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz had an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe before arriving in Sussex.
Within its streamlined 65 minutes, it covers a lot of ground: what it is like to be a young black man today; the struggle of pursuing your dreams with the confines of society; the pitfalls of modern dating and what it says about us as people, all while being a vignette of life in Birmingham.
But it never feels rushed or too tightly packed, thanks to the calm confidence of its leading man.
The staging is minimal – a red curtain backdrop, with shirts littering the floor – but it does the job, rooting you firmly in Nathan’s world as a young man finding his identity.
Nathan is getting ready for a drink with a girl he admiringly refers to as Beyonce, who he met on an app.
Talking to the audience a la Fleabag, he guides us through his dating rituals: the venue to pick, when to kiss, and most importantly, where to get a fresh trim.
The observational humour is delivered with warmth and wit; his experience of ‘cheating’ on his barber and his subsequent horror when they get the cut wrong is both hilarious and charming.
As expected with modern dating, Beyonce leaves him on read before they meet – but Nathan doesn’t stay gloomy for long, moving on to his next potential matches (his call centre co-workers who, of course, are called Kelly and Michelle).
There are some lovely touches: acting out a WhatsApp group chat, getting the audience to vote on which girl to date, and a scene where the dialogue of his ‘colleague’ is replaced with soundbites of Beyoncé lyrics as the lovelorn lothario finds his mind wandering to the girl who ghosted him (‘everything reminds me of her’, he says).
The crossroads of the play, set at the end of a successful date with Kelly which led to an impromptu all-night rave, subverts expectation.
In some ways unsatisfying, it nevertheless reveals another side to Nathan’s character in the closing moments – leaving room to imagine what person he might become.
This is funny, thoughtful and utterly charming theatre; expect to hear Nathan’s name more often.