Soho Theatre – until 11 February 2023
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Willy Hudson’s autobiographical story is a beautiful, bloody queer mess that will make you laugh, cry and squirm in equal measure. Following a bad breakup, Willie returns to his childhood home – but not until we have a brilliantly bombastic sci-fi rock opera opening number depicting the relationship.
Willy’s interpretation of his parents’ responses to his breakup are coloured by shame and anger, the source of which doesn’t become clear until a box of childhood belongings sends us back in time to 2000 and Willy buying Robbie Williams’s album. Growing up in a charismatic church and hearing that homosexuals will burn in hell doesn’t sit too well with his growing fascination for the censored video for Rock DJ and the photos of Robbie’s bum.
Recognising the damage to himself and his relationships that stemmed from teenage years of being judged (and so judging himself) as sinful and wrong, Willy is back for revenge – and a church Easter egg hunt provides the perfect opportunity.
Willy Hudson’s writing is as funny, imaginative and clever as ever, full of emotion, honesty and a devilish twinkle, and his performance is out of this world. The scenes where he relates petty family feuds over the best seats for watching Doctor Who are a heart-warming joy, with Weeping Angels appearing on stage to represent the monsters in his own story – not killing him, but feeding on his energy with devastating effect. Director and dramaturg Zach James allows Willy’s story to unfold in a seemingly organic, chaotic musical spectacular that sweeps the audience along through time and space to the bloody carnage of Willy’s longed for confrontation and the exhausted aftermath.
Susanne Dietz’s video design, Jai Morjaria’s lighting and Tom Foskett-Barnes’s sound and music work together to create funny, thrilling and uncomfortable moments of magic. Anna Orton’s kitsch tin foiled set and the stagehands popping on and off with props has a hilariously ramshackle feel, but also makes explicit the fact that Willy can’t come to terms with his past or create a show on his own, needing friends and allies to help him through. A fabulous, frenetic extravaganza that shouldn’t be missed.