Dedicated to the memory of Paul O’Grady the White Bear in Kennington is currently showing a smash-hit double bill of gay theatre with the Generation Games.
Originally titled Gay Generations, these acclaimed gay-themed comedy dramas are running at the White Bear on Kennington Park Road until Saturday April 22.
Since the shock death of Paul O’Grady, tributes have been flooding in for the much-loved star from far and wide. His rise to fame from his Lily Savage persona started with the regular spots at the nearby Royal Vauxhall Tavern in the 1980s.
Generation Games, two one act plays about life, love and loss seems appropriately dedicated and following its award-winning sell-out run in 2021, this exciting double bill has been revised as a full-length production.
Both plays portray the differences of perspective, the insecurities and the simple misunderstandings, sometimes heart-breaking, often hilarious, between men who grew up in different eras with different expectations and values.
Michael McManus’s ‘A Certain Term’ directed by Bryan Hodgson is a comic tale of when 40-something Graham is approached by 20-something Joe in a gay bar, throw in a mysterious visitor appearing from nowhere and the encounter is unexpected and alarmingly indiscreet.
The line: “It’s not dying young that’s an offence against nature for a gay man, you know. It’s growing old. We become invisible,” that best describes the piece.
Charlie Ross MacKenzie, a well-known stand-up comedian, writer, broadcaster and presenter on BBC Radio Scotland, play ‘I F_____n Love You’ is set with the two actors on a sofa bed trying to get a good night’s sleep. Trouble is they are prone to overthinking things. They uncover many things thought forgotten, dealing with fidelity, death, weak bladders and Bucks Fizz.
Generation Games
£20 / £16 concessions until Saturday 22 April 2023
Tuesdays-Saturdays at 7.30pm, with Saturday matinées at 2.30pm
The White Bear Theatre, 138 Kennington Park Road, SE11 4DJ
Ticket booking link: https://www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk/whatson/Generation-Games
Running time: 2hrs 15mins including a 15-minute interval
