The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me at the New Wimbledon Theatre

After attending a performance of Larry Kramer’s play

THE NORMAL HEART, a young man’s life is changed forever that night thanks to the power of theatre.

Broken up into a series of stories, Drake abstractly documents a gay man’s journey of self-discovery. From the late-night club crawl to the buff-bunny gyms, from the threat of anti-gay violence to the place where condemnation, compromises and closets are a thing of the past, the play exposes the sexual, spiritual, and political yearnings at the heart of gay America shared by a whole generation of gay men and women.

The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me allows the audience to peek into New York gay life in the 1980s, during the height of the aids crisis and the formation of the political group ACT UP as lived through the eyes of one man in this UK premiere performance.

What starts out as a love letter to theatre, sadly loses its way as the story progresses.  While John Bell puts in a charming performance as Drake in this one-man show, quickly getting the audience to fall in love with him, sadly it is the writing that lets the show down.  While some individual scenes are glorious to watch in the revealing of this character, others drag and often simply seem irrelevant to an overall plot.  The audience is left feeling that a good editor could make all the difference.

The technical aspects of this show are both simplistic yet noteworthy in their beauty.  The lighting design by Aaron J Dootson is particularly inspired and at times almost seems to become the second character, aiding to create the warm, cosy atmosphere of a New York loft apartment whilst at other times creating moments of serious emotion.

This show is worth a watch to see John Bell perform, if you can ignore the lacking plot.  The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me is on at the New Wimbledon Theatre until the 26th of February, Tickets start from £24.50 and can be booked from the New Wimbledon Theatre website.

Tickets were gifted in exchange for a review, all words and opinions are my own.