12th Dec2020

GH Boy (Theatre)

by timbaros

GH-Boy-Jimmy-Essex-Robert-Finch-Marc-Bosch-Sergi-Castell.-Credit-Bettina-John-2-copyRobert seems to have it all but in reality he doesn’t. His fate is revealed in the new hard hitting play ‘GH Boy.’

Now playing at the Charing Cross Theatre until December 20th Robert (Jimmy Essex) has the perfect boyfriend in Sergio (Marc Bosch). Sergio is young, cute, fun and just adores Robert – who in Sergio eyes can’t do no wrong. Robert also has an understanding mom (now played by Nicola Sloane after Buffy Davis injured herself), a very good friend in Jasminder (Anryana Ramkhalawon) and an understanding therepist (Devesh Kishore). But Robert hides a secret – he’s way over his head in East London’s party scene (party = drugs).
Meanwhile, there are whispers of a gay serial killer who entices gay men with promises of drugs, drugs, and more drugs. Robert desperately wants to leave the scene behind him and to enjoy his engagement with the adorable Sergio – but Robert can’t seem to escape the clutch on drugs – and this might just lead to a rendevous with the serial killer who seems about to snare Robert into his dangerous web.
‘GH Boy’ tackles the misconceptions around gay culture and promiscuity and questions why gay men like Robert are drawn to this scene to the point of self-destruction in this show by debut playwright Paul Harvard.
 
 Originally supposed to run at The Vaults earlier this year but cancelled due to COVID 19 – catch it now while you can before possible tier 3 restrictions come into effect.
 

 

Category : Theatre
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12th Dec2020

Potted Panto (Theatre)

by timbaros

Potted Panto Garrick Theatre CREDIT Geraint Lewis

Potted Panto is literally 70 minutes of non- stop panto fun.

Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner present to us ten-minute versions of six panto fairytales, with a seventh thrown to complete the theme (Snow White anyone?). Both of them play all the characters in a show that makes you very happy that Panto is back where it belongs – in an actual theatre and – not zoomed into your living room. 

Now playing at the Garrick Theatre until January 10th at the Garrick Theatre in London’s barely coming to life West end – Potted Panto gets you out of your home, out of your trackies, and into proper clothes for a properly fun good time at the theatre – remember those days? 

It’s literally a laugh a minute (sure some of the gags are very silly but what do you expect at Panto time?). Dan and Jefferson, along with a helping hand by Charlotte Payne and Jacob Jackson, we start on a high with a riff on Jack and the Beanstalk and continue on with Dick Whittington, Aladdin, A Christmas Carol, among others…..and all throughout, with costume changes galore – the hyperactivity of Turner, and especially Clarkson who doesn’t seem to have an off button, both bring smiles from ear to ear. It’s not worth reviewing as it’s just great to be in a actual theatre – Potted Panto, whether it’s just plain silly, it still fun, and yes, for the entire family!
Category : Theatre
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12th Dec2020

Patrick (Film)

by timbaros
122215407_669965360613345_2529482755345637630_o-c226bc41Patrick has lost his hammer, and he’s also lost his clothes!
You see Patrick (Kevin Jannsens), in the new film simply called ‘Patrick,’ works at a nudist camp deep in the woods in a remote area in Belgium. It’s a nudist camp his father owns, and where, along with his mother, all share a home in the camp. His mother is blind and his father is getting a bit too old to run the camp. Then one day Patrick notices that one of his hammers is gone, so he spends the entire film in search of his hammer (yes, literally a hammer). Patrick goes from tent to tent in the hopes of finding his hammer – he so obsessed about it that when his father suddenly dies, Patrick still has only one thing on his mind  – yes you guessed it –  to find his hammer.
The nudist camp is full of cast of characters, all naked all the time. After a bit, the nudity becomes a bit unnoticeable and the storyline gets quirkier and quirkier, including when a famous American musician takes up a spot in the camp who perhaps knows a thing to two about the hammer. Also about to be revealed is a secret his father had, and his mothers knowledge about the secret. But Patrick is oblivious to the whole thing – he just wants his hammer back. From Peak Blinders director Tim Mielants, ‘Patrick is quirky, a bit funny, and definitely different.
Category : Film
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06th Dec2020

Ghosts of the Republique (Film)

by timbaros

376A newly married French gay couple journey to America to find a surrogate in the moving documentary ‘Ghosts of the Republique.’

It was love at first sight for Aurelien and Nicolas when they meet at a gay club in Paris. They wind up getting married and such begins the film and their journey. It’s 2014 and estate agent Nicolas and flight attendant Aurelien make a perfect couple, while both their parents have accepted the fact that their gay sons would never be parents. Even Nicolas’s mother is happy to
now have two sons but upset that she’ll never be happy as she’ll never have a grandchild. However, Aurelien and Nicolas do want to have a child, but they face serious obstacles – the most difficult one being that the French government does not allow surrogacy. It’s a government that passed same-sex marriage in 2013 but is not quite progressive enough. Aurelien and Nicolas are so determined to be parents that they fly to Las Vegas to start a family of their own through international surrogacy. They search high and low for an egg donor and also a surrogate to carry the egg to produce a child. They interview several local women, make decisions, and proceed with the process. It’s a process that’s complex, full of loopholes and uncertainty, and where every step has to go perfect and according to plan. Getting their non-French born baby back into France and establishing French citizenship is another hurdle to tackle. We go through the highs and the lows with Aurelien and Nicolas in the documentary – it’s an emotional ride made bearable by the charming couple who desperately want a baby, and we see them travel back and forth from France to the U.S. several timesTo check in their baby mama. ‘Ghosts of the Republique,’ directed by American Jonathon Narducci, provides us much joy and drama in this sweet and touching story of Aurelien and Nicolas. 

Category : Film
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06th Dec2020

County Lines (Film)

by timbaros
8. Conrad Khan as Tyler in COUNTY LINES poster image (dir. Henry Blake) Courtesy BFI copyHenry Blake, in his debut as director and writer, gives us an intimate and moving portrait of a young man groomed into the drug trade.
In ‘County Lines,’ we meet Tyler (Conrad Khan), who lives at home with his single mother Toni (a very good Ashley Madekwe) and his little sister Briony (Shauna Sim). Tyler is a disaffected youth in east London, and at 14 is the man of the house. His mother has a hard time making ends meet, and also has a hard time getting Tyler to open up. Tyler is just going through the motions at school, couldn’t care either way about it, nor about the men his mom brings home. But one day he meets the good-looking and sharp dressed Simon (Harris Dickinson). Simon offers Tyler the opportunity to make money, money much needed in his cash strapped home to pay the bills. Soon enough, Tyler gets sucked into the world of drug running – delivering drugs and collecting money – but it all comes at a risk, not just from the authorities but from other dealers in the business as well. But Tyler gets in way too deep, but will the new trainers and extra money be worth the risk?
Khan is just about perfect as the young man who wants to do right by his family and takes an opportunity he sees as a too good to be true. Khan, a veteran of many films, including The Huntsman and The Passenger, has an amazingly expressive face. Madekwe also just about perfect as his struggling mom, while Dickinson (Beach Rats) is good as always. Director Blake pulls us into Tyler’s bleak world from the start – it’s an amazing debut from Blake – who originally created this film as a short – winning Best British Short Film Award at the London Short Film Festival last year.
Category : Film
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