Sexuality and religion, and particularly gay sexuality in those from ethnic minority backgrounds, do not lie easily together. This is the heart of director Lloyd Newson’s production, To Be Straight With You, conceived after suffering hostility towards homosexuality first-hand.
The result is a live documentary drawn from 85 interviews with people on both sides of the divide. Their exact words are spoken - often disturbing, sometimes humorous, but always a damning indictment of people who just can’t keep their noses out of the lives of others.
Newson admits that these themes do not easily translate to movement, and many of the performers end up weaving and gyrating while delivering the monologues. But using skipping, a childish activity while telling one of the most shocking stories of a father stabbing his 15-year old gay son, makes for stark and compelling theatre, with the intricate patterns being brilliantly executed by Ira Mandela Siobhan.
Video artists Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler have devised some stunning visuals, with the cast at times appearing to be inside the images, such as a vast see-through globe, which is painted with swathes of colour at the sweep of a hand.
After 80 minutes, these desperate stories, though powerfully presented, become relentless in their bleakness. Live and let live as only God can be our judge is the ultimate conclusion, but onstage at the National, DV8 is surely preaching to the converted. This would probably reach a more apt target if screened on TV, when its important message might prise off a few more blinkers.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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