Boyfriends review: A tender and witty look at the lives of young gay men

Boyfriends

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

★★★★☆

Part love story, part meditation on grief, and part commentary on the ecological crisis, Boyfriends is a tender and witty new play showing at the Project Arts Centre this summer.

Set in present day Dublin, it tells the story of a brief but significant affair between two anonymous men.

After a chance encounter at The George pub, the pair ghost each other, but bump into each other again at a cafe and ultimately end up in a rather intimate “situationship” (an undefined or non-committal relationship).

It’s a passionate and tumultuous three months which later charts, through a time jumping, onstage montage, the many possibilities of what their future might hold together.

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Littered with pop culture references, silly couch sex and dancing (to both the original version of Kylie Minogue’s latest hit Padam Padam, and an amusing classical version), Boyfriends also takes on the bigger themes of commitment, identity, loss and existentialism.

Emmanuel Okoye, a talented young actor who has already graced the stages of the Abbey and Gate theatres, especially shines in this role, while emerging Donegal playwright Ultan Pringle’s script is smart, raw, and above all, hilarious. On stage, Pringle plays his character with a lovable warmth and sharp delivery.

“I have a confession,” Pringle tells Okoye’s character before they first go home together.

“You’re a virgin?”

“No, a dog owner.” Out rolls Marshmallow, a remote-controlled robot dog, to raucous laughter. He’s a crowd favourite, making several more entertaining appearances throughout the 90-minute show.

When Marshmallow malfunctions on stage, falling over on its side, Pringle’s quick wit – “it’s his arthritis” – leaves the audience in stitches.

Loneliness doesn’t discriminate, but Boyfriends is astute in its observations about its psychological impacts on gay men and the prevalence within the community. It explores the issue of toxic diet culture among young men without reserve.

Boyfriends is the third stage production and first touring show by LemonSoap Productions, a relatively new, and promising, collective of young artists. After a two-week run at The Project Arts Centre, Boyfriends will take to the playwright’s hometown of Letterkenny for three days at An Grianán. It’s a thoroughly entertaining and poignant experience.

Boyfriends is at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, until Saturday, July 6th