Multi-talented, social media sensation Rob Madge brings their award-winning production of My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?) to HOME in Manchester and tonight the audience welcomed them with open arms and a double standing ovation.
Starting during lock down with Twitter posts and home videos of Rob attempting to stage a full-blown Disney parade at home for their grandma, with costumes going awry, Rob’s Mum mixing up characters and Rob’s Dad missing cues as Stage Manager as well as many other roles, Rob is here to tell the story from birth to finally completing this parade live for us this evening.
Written by Madge and directed by Luke Sheppard, My Son’s A Queer is going from strength to strength, originating at the Turbine Theatre in 2021, it has had two seasons at the Edinburgh Festival, a national tour, two West End runs and now back out on another UK tour.
We are invited into Rob’s living room and are told their story through song, narrative, and videos from their childhood, bringing lots of joy and emotions which hit home with a great many in the audience. Many have had a time in life where they have felt different or told they should be or act a certain way to fit in, and Rob shows us that life is for living. You be who you are and should not change for anyone.
Rob’s Dad says in a Tweet back in 2021 “the perfect parent doesn’t exist but to love, accept and endorse what your child is and wants to be is really all that matters.” Who can argue with that?
The set this evening is simple with hidden gems throughout, a living room where this parade is taking place, but it is so much more than that, it is an emotion, a smile, a tear but more than anything it is a huge bundle of joy.
Music by Pippa Cleary is joyful and adds heart to the piece, Lighting by Jai Morjaria brings the piece to joyful glittering life and video design by George Reeve adds a great layer to the piece, being able to be transported through the years of Rob Madge and see what’s behind the person they are today and the star that is stood in front of us tonight. As the lyrics say, “Anything is possible if you just believe.”
Running at HOME until Sunday 25th August with tickets available at https://.homemcr.org/production/my-sons-a-queer-but-what-can-you-do/
Reviewer: Damian Riverol
Reviewed: 20th August 2024
North West End UK Rating: