Twice The Prejudice, Twice The Fun

Presented as a series of vignettes exploring what it means to be gay in the traditionally robustly heterosexual black community, 'Black Faggot' is a though-provoking, touching and often amusing performance at the Rehearsal Room of the Fringe Hub in North Melbourne.
There is the young man who is too scared to come out to his family and friends for fear of rejection (despite many of them being perfectly aware of his orientation), the happily married man who 'accidentally' finds himself in a gay bar and the gay couple who are very active in the bedroom, which has unfortunate consequences for any fabrics in the line of fire - so to speak.
The vignettes present as criss-crossing windows into the lives of several recurring characters whose stories gradually develop over the course of the 50 minutes we spend with them. Some characters resolve the issues in their lives which arise from them being gay and some have new issues develop, but they all are changed by what they encounter.
This is a highly entertaining and enlightening show with two excellent central performances and is showing until October 5th.

Shock And Awe Theatre

As last night's performance of 'MKA - Unsex Me' ended, my wife turned to me, saying, "Review that!" throwing a metaphorical gauntlet at my feet.
Well - challenge accepted!
Firstly, let me say that this is not a show for the squeamish. Or those who dislike overt sexual content, audience participation, heteronormative zealots or Andrew Bolt (although watching his blood-pressure rise throughout until his head went 'Pop!' would be diverting).
You will no doubt hear about this show through its notoriety and the outrage it will provoke in those bastions of morality and purity - the mainstream press. Most of this will focus on one single scene which is the most confronting act I have witnessed performed live on stage. I won't spoil the surprise just in case you happen to be curious enough to want to see this show.
In isolation, with no supporting context, the scene has no justification other than to shock and disgust, but in the context of this full performance it establishes a back story to the twisted and perverse personality of our protagonist, the award-winning actress Mark Wilson.
Yes - you read that last part correctly.
Wilson's performance here is astonishing. Full of passion and utterly fearless, he dominates the small stage of Son of Loft at the Lithuanian Club for the entire 50 minutes of the show's run time, never once betraying any signs of trepidity. He handles the spectrum of performance required of him very professionally and is equally convincing when answering dull questions from an unseen interviewer as he is during the more intense scenes later on.
The venue was completely sold-out and when we arrived, there was another room full of people loitering in the hopes of sneaking-in at the back. They were to be sorely disappointed.
If you have an open mind and very few hang-ups, then give this a try - but you have been warned.
'MKA: UnSex Me' is on at the Lithuanian Club until October 5th.