Review: Undone at AXM in Manchester during Pride week
Undone gives an insight into the life of a gay guy living a hedonistic life on Canal Street; evenings fuelled by drink and drugs, ending in one-night stands. In the course of the story, he meets a guy new to the scene and relatively innocent.
As a gay man who has known the scene in Manchester, the first half of this play left me concerned that it was not going to show anything original. Don't get me wrong, the acting of all the cast was excellent and it was well directed. The director Chad McGitchie and assistant director Dominic Berry made great use of the theatre space in AXM; the story acted out both on the stage and by an actual bar. It was darkly entertaining and true but I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen it all before.
However, the second half found the piece coming into its own. A surreal edge showed itself with a great scene where lost souls were literally hooked by drinks and drugs. There were also some fantastic monologues. Highlights were Steven Pilling, as main character Dex, running through a tally of one-night-stands and Stephen Beard, as straight-acting Austin, explaining the depressing expectations of how a gay guy should hold a cigarette. Both of these scenes would work as poetry outside of this production.
All through the show, Meredith McGrath as the boozy Bex and Daniel Van Garrett as Charlie, high on drugs and highly camp, revelled and impressed in their outrageous and destructive roles.
I can highly recommend this play and its portrayal of how lonely people can get sucked into the seedier elements of Canal Street. AXM is a new venue for this sort of production and, given the quality of this play, it will be worth keeping an eye out for further events there.
Pride Fringe Info
August 23, 24 & 26 at 7.30pm
£8 Door / £7 Adv / £6 Concession
Pride Weekend Info (you will need a Pride wristband for these dates)
August 28 at 5pm & 29 at 7.30pm
£7 Door / £6 Adv / £5 Concession
AXM , 100 Bloom Street, Manchester, M1 3LY
See http://www.badcheckproductions.com/index.html for further info.
