He review

He commences with a man crawling out of the ocean and onto a beach. He looks frayed and exhausted. He has returned to a small town in El Salvador, a place he swore he's never set foot in again. Written by Rodrigo Calderón, He is a heartbreaking love story of a man growing up in a community run by toxic masculinity and homophobia.

Calderón gives a captivating performance as a man grappling with the trauma he has experienced. While the story veers into some serious melodrama and improbable twists, Calderón is able to keep the work grounded and allow for genuine emotions to be released and expressed. Calderón also brings great physicality to the role and transfers the man's emotional turmoil into a striking physical representation.

Heaps Gay Heaps Yummy preview

Melbourne Music Week is nearly upon us (11 - 19 November) and the queers are coming out to play with Heaps Gay Heaps Yummy. For one night only, Kat Hopper (director and founder of Heaps Gay) and James Welsby (creative director and founder of YUMMY), will be hosting this event, which will see queers and their allies taking over the State Library of Victoria for what promises to be a night of spectacular music and fabulous performance.

Fresh from hosting "a deliciously twisted cabaret of queer-lesque delights" with YUMMY Up Late at the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Welsby is more than excited about his upcoming collaboration with Melbourne Music Week and Heaps Gay. "The scale for Heaps Gay Heaps YUMMY is like nothing that I've coordinated before. We have booked over 30 performers, and are taking over an iconic venue in Melbourne," he says. "It feels so amazing to have that level of support for an indie queer event. The skill and diversity of all the performers we have scheduled is completely out of control. It is going to be huge."

Uncovered - Midsumma Festival review

After Dark Theatre's Uncovered would have to be one of the sexiest circus shows I have ever seen, and with its overt intent on exploring homosexuality, love and sex, it isn’t surprising. Director and performer, Dave Coombs, has brought together recent graduates or current students of the National Institute of Circus Arts, and through a number of circus acts, explores the idea of “the first”, including the first encounter with a man and the first kiss.

The performers - Emily Gare, Alex Jeans, Mark Graham, Nelson Smyles and Coombs - are all committed and enthusiastic and for where they currently stand in their experience, deliver some impressive feats. Jeans' silks routine and his subsequent double aerial hoop act with Graham are strong highlights of the evening. The latter in particular, successfully displayed their talents with their seamlessly moving bodies, and paired with the music, permitted the audience to recall their own similar experiences while appreciating what was occurring on stage.  

Member - Midsumma Festival review

Presented as part of the Midsumma Festival by Fairly Lucid Productions and directed by Casey Gould, Ben Noble's Member was incited by the death of gay man Scott Johnson in 1988, when his body found at the bottom of a cliff at Manly. Deemed a suicide, there has always been speculation that he was a victim of a gay hate-crime. However, the narrative focuses on Corey, your typical Aussie living in Manly with his wife and child. We follow Corey through various moments in his life that have led to where he is now, in a hospital room, his son lying unconscious, seemingly fighting for his life.

Ben Noble is exemplary in his performance as Corey (and all the other characters he plays). From the very beginning, our eyes are glued on him and even as he begins to unravel and the truth becomes clearer, we still cannot look away. Corey is a complex character but Noble is able to bring some insight into his actions and thoughts while still holding him accountable for them.

Intoxication - Midsumma Festival review

I still remember the excitement in my house when we signed up for dial-up Internet. It brought a new world into my living room with just a tap of the keyboard and a click of the mouse. 17 years later, the technological advances we have made have brought this virtual world closer to us, but has it pushed us further away from the real world? Presented as part of the 2016 Midsumma Festival, Christopher Bryant’s Intoxication analyses and raises questions about how our reliance on social media, dating apps and smart phones are hindering us from building honest and meaningful relationships with actual people.

The three performers - Ryan Forbes, Amy Hack and Bryant – each sit on an individual cube and, as if they are in a confessional, share their anxieties with us. Even though there is barely, if any, interaction between the three during these moments, the thoughts and emotions shared are very similar, building on Bryant's idea that despite all having these insecurities and feelings of loneliness, we seem to push ourselves further away from reality and into the digital world, where we are free to project the life we wish we had and want the world (wide web) to see.

Uncovered - Midsumma Festival preview

Uncovered is a circus show with a twist. A young man enters a bar, he is a stranger here and the rules are that anything goes in this place. With a variety of contemporary circus acts, Uncovered explores the concept of first time encounters and sensual moments with others. Presented as part of the Midsumma Festival, it's bound to leave audiences feeling a little more than hot under the collar. 

The director and choreographer of Uncovered, Dave Coombs, has brought together recent graduates and current students of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA), the only training institution of its kind in the country. Coombs has been more than impressed with the display of talent he has witnessed and can't wait to unleash them onto his audiences. "You can expect high energy performances and skill levels far beyond what you'd expect from people that are still studying or have only just completed their studies. In rehearsals their attitudes have been so enthusiastic and eager to make sure the audiences have a good time first and foremost so you can expect just that."

The Ultimate Lesbian Double Feature - Midsumma Festival preview

There are not many people who can say they've never sexted before, the fine art of texting and being sexual at the same time. It's a practise that has only been around a few decades, but had it been available 200 years ago or even 100 years ago, how would relationships have been different? This is just one story being performed as part of The Ultimate Lesbian Double Feature during the Midsumma Festival.

In Love in the Time of Sexting, playwright Zoe Brinnand imagines a world where Emily Dickinson didn't write letters to Susan Gilbert and Virginia Wolf's letters to Vita Sackville-West never existed. Instead, Brinnand explores how this intimacy would have been created and maintained through the use of mobile phones and sexting. "I hope that this play encourages more lesbians to loosen up about sex," Brinnand laughs. "And to sext more! Sexting can be funny, and should be fun."

Elegy - Midsumma Festival preview

Based on interviews with gay refugees, Elegy is an emotionally powerful story of a young gay Iraqi man fleeing from persecution in search of a better life. Presented by independent theatre company Lab Kelpie, Elegy is a Midusmma Festival premiere event that should be on everyone's 'must see' list. The play, inspired by first-person accounts by photo-journalist Bradley Secker is paired with an exhibition by Secker of said photos, which allows the audience to build on what we are seeing on stage and create a greater sense of authenticity and honesty. 

"There was such an immense sense of emotion I felt after reading the story. I still have difficulty reading the script at times," co-producer Adam Fawcett says. "This story grabs you by the heartstrings with its capacity to explore love against the harsh reality of life in the Middle East for LGBTI people. The fact that it is based on real people made it all the more powerful for me. As soon as we both finished reading it, we knew we wanted to produce it."

Intoxication - Midsumma Festival preview

Despite living in a society where we are more connected with each other around the world more than ever before, it is ironic that many of us are also feeling a disconnect with those physically around us. While we spend our time taking the perfect selfie, instagramming that delicious dinner and finding entertainment on dating apps, we seem to be getting lonelier and lonelier.

Presented as part of the 2016 Midsumma Festival, Intoxication shows just how deeply affecting one person's loneliness can be to everyone around them. "We live in a world of fast-food connection: quick, junky, and not particularly nourishing. It’s a bizarre thing, to be so connected, but still so unable to connect, when it should be easier to connect with the people around you, but in actual fact, it’s harder," writer of Intoxication, Christopher Bryant explains. "The play is about the ways we pursue happiness, myself included. If I’m lonely, horny, bored or drunk I can just download an app and meet someone in half an hour flat. It's about social anxiety and the fear of being alone that rules modern society, but in particular modern gay society." 

"It’s a difficult but necessary discussion, especially since in the homosexual community, we’re not afforded the social freedom, perhaps of heterosexuals. By that I mean, aside from the usual set of open desires and shared interests, everyone you meet can’t necessarily be a viable romantic option by virtue of presumed sexual preference. In this regards, the play is about learning to be alone, and that being alone isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be better than a lot of negative relationships."

Homosexuals, Olympics, Russia and Vodka...

The news about Russia and its legislation that now bans "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors” with severe punishments for anyone who infringes on this draconian law, has been making headlines, and rightly so. With all the progress the world has made regarding gay rights for something like this to be passed in this day and age is so horrendously wrong that people should be talking about it. However, there have been two things that have really got to me regarding this legislation; firstly, the reaction of the International Olympic Committee and secondly, the boycotting of Russian vodka, Stolichnaya.

It's all fun and games in Russia

I have never been a fan of the Olympics. I have always seen them as being hypocritical in what they stand for with their claims about solidarity and uniting countries, yet it’s always about winning and who has the most medals. With the laws that Russia has just passed, it is now time for the IOC to take a stand and prove what the Olympics stand for. Instead they release a since proven erroneous statement that they have "received assurances from the highest level of government in Russia" that these laws that violate human rights "will not affect those attending or taking part in the games". Because that makes it all right does it? Out of sight out of mind? It is reminiscent of the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. The Nazi party might not have been in at its peak back then and communication to the masses would have been a lot more difficult so I can see somehow understand (but not accept) how they would have still permitted the games to be held there, but with all the facts we have at hand about what is happening in Russia, it is unfathomable that the IOC can sit back and implicitly say ‘we don’t give a shit about human rights, just as long as the games go ahead”. The last time the games were cancelled was in 1940 and I can understand the importance of the games (even if I don’t agree with them) but find me anyone who is a supporter of human rights who would not agree with cancelling the games if Russia does not wake up to itself? Yes it’s an extreme reaction but this is an extreme discriminatory law. Forget about gay marriage for a second and remember that this law permits someone to be jailed for even discussing homosexuality with minors.

The homepage of Stolichnaya

But if the IOC won’t do anything, at least the gay clubs will. Some of the biggest gay clubs in America, Canada, England and Australia - including The Laird in Melbourne and Gay Bar in Sydney, have begun boycotting Russian vodka - in particular Stolichnaya. Individuals have also chosen to no longer purchase the Russian brand as their drink of choice. Bravo! Bravo indeed! Let’s stop consuming a drink that obviously has Russian ties but whose headquarters are not even based in Russia (they’re in Luxembourg) and have no effect on the actual Government itself. Even the CEO of Stoli’s parent company SPI Group, Val Mendeleev, has issued an open letter to the LGBT community, in which he speaks of being a “fervent supporter and friend” of the gay community. Yes, it is raising awareness about the issue but it is not doing anything for the cause. It’s this “bedroom activism” that really infuriates me. If people really wanted to take a stand against this they would stop using/purchasing products that Russia exports. In 2007, Petroleum products comprised over half of Russian exports to the U.S. while iron, steel and railway equipment are the fastest growing imports into Russia from America. If we put a stop on such trade in response to Russia’s heinous legislation then this would actually have an effect on the country. Of course, this would require people to actually make some sort of sacrifice rather than getting on their morality horse by limiting their alcohol intake. Not drinking Stolichnaya vodka because of Russia’s gay laws is the same thing as “liking” a page on Facebook to end world hunger.

We – in Australia – are up in arms about the fact that we still don’t have legal marriage for all gay people. We think this is abhorrent and extremely discriminatory, but on the flipside, I am so relieved that we can openly hold hands, kiss and discuss homosexuality without fear of retribution. Yes we can’t get married (yet) but at least we don’t have the fear of going to jail or being murdered for being who we are. For this reason, it is imperative that the IOC and world leaders make a stand to Russia that this is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Tilda Swinton posing with the rainbow flag in Russia

Am I a Bad Gay?

I often joke to my friends that one day, my license will be revoked; my license to be gay. I know a lot of people who will read this and disagree with me and that's fine, but from my experiences this is how I see the gay community as a whole, based on my experiences. I've been a practising homosexual for a decade and I still feel no closer to the gay community than those days when I would borrow my next door neighbour's Dolly magazines to read but secretly lust after the shirtless nameless models in their pages.

There are a number of reasons why I feel I am a bad gay; the main one being I hate gay clubs. The clubs I have been to are generally a cruising ground for sex. Not that straight clubs aren't but in the gay ones, sexual advances are extremely direct and confronting (and at times, close to sexual assault). Two examples that come to mind; I was in the toilets of one club when a guy walked up to me and asked 'can I suck your dick' while I was literally standing at the urinal. Another time, a customer I had served when I worked in retail recognised me out and as he walked past me, grabbed my penis and smiled at me. I didn't appreciate that but yet if I was to create a scene about these moments, I would be looked at as making a big deal over nothing. The themed nights that various clubs have such as 'foam parties' implicitly condone such behaviour.

Continuing on with the overly sexualisation in the gay community, the amount of times I have started talking to - and even dated - guys and then find out they are in open relationships is unbelievable. I was at the Peel about six months ago and this guy approached me. We chatted for a while and had a bit of a snog (yes I said snog, deal with it) and then I returned to my mates. As I was leaving, I went back to him, chatted a bit more, exchanged numbers and I headed home (that's the PG version anyway). We spent the weekend texting back and forth and organising to go out that following Thursday until he sent me a text on the Monday saying "hey, I really like you but I think you should know I already have a boyfriend but I still want to see you". Delete. I'm not judging anyone that is in an open relationship (even though I don't get it) but it's treated like such a casual, normal thing to mention to someone, to the point where I was told by a friend that I should have asked him if he had a boyfriend! I'm no prude and I like to think I've had my fair share of escapades (yes, at times I have used Grindr to fulfil these needs) but in a gay environment, I feel sexual inhibitions disappear and anything is deemed acceptable which does not sit well with me.

There is a strong sense of competition between gay men. Much more than what I witness and hear about amongst my straight male friends. There's this feeling of having to be better than and superior to each other. Walk down Chapel St and you can feel the eyes burning through you, looking you up and down, judging what you're wearing, how your hair looks and who good your body is. We're so hell bent on creating a gay community yet we create these divides that are anything but positive. Why would anyone want to be part of that?

I'm also not a participant of gay festivals or events; I've never been to MidSumma, Sydney Mardi Gras and I didn't even go to any Melbourne Queer Film Festival screenings. I feel no connection or openess to any of these. A new magazine "about men who date men" called Hello Mr. was released recently, which has intelligent and well thought out articles written by gay men from around the world. Whilst it was far superior to the semi-pornographic DNA-esque magazines that are around at the moment, I still was not won over. There were only three articles I genuinely enjoyed and was moved by but the rest of it felt preachy and at times, quite pretentious - further enhancing 'competition' within the gay community.

It is for these reason why I guess I don't have a lot of gay friends, which I am fine with, as choosing your friends based on sexual preference is just as ridiculous as choosing your friends based on sex. My friends are awesome and never have I ever been made to feel uncomfortable about who I am, directly or indirectly but I've also reached the stage now - having just turned thirty five months ago - where what I would really like is a relationship. Having turned my back on so many gay avenues, what else is left? Where do people who don't fit the gay community mould go? I keep thinking that I will meet the perfect guy when I am at a cool little cafe in Fitzroy or at a comedy gig I may be at and I don't need to go to the Greyhound or join a gay sports team to meet him.

So...am I a bad gay?