Not-a-review: NewFoundLand, Royal Court

“You need to stand out from all the other ordinary and average homos out there”

The fun of play readings is often getting to see actors you don’t see so frequently on stage and so it was with NewFoundLand which offered the opportunity to see Kieran Bew return to the theatre. Neil Coppen’s play is part of the Royal Court’s South Africa season, marking 20 years of democracy by pulling together a week of readings with a panel discussion, a live poetry evening, featuring top spoken word artists from South Africa and a late night music event.

As the plays are presented as works-in-progress, I won’t say a huge amount about it other than to say it made for a fascinating 80 minutes exploring, amongst other things, gay sexuality, inter-racial relationships, the intersections of race and religion for different cultures and a deeply interesting look at how memory can be tinkered with. A strong cast were directed well by Simon Godwin and as lead character Jacques, Bew was most enjoyable to watch, even if someone saying the above-mentioned quote to him stretched credulity somewhat!

Book other readings here

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