Despite an avoidance of capital letters, ‘tell me straight’ follows sold-out runs at The King’s Head and Chiswick Playhouse. Paul Bradshaw’s play explores sexuality and dating in a semi- autobiographical coming of age drama. Writer and co-producer Paul Bradshaw stars as the character known only as ‘Him’. Flashing back to childhood and progressing to the present day, it’s a comedic journey of sexual adventures, but mostly charts a chaotic fetish for straight men.
Fresh from playing Alexander the Great in a Netflix historical drama, Buck Braithwaite abandons smouldering soldier homoerotica and plays a roll call of men who have little idea what to do with their sword, never mind their helmet. He pulls it off with considerable skill. In fact, the nuances of sexual confusion that Braithwaite lends to these characters makes them arguably more sympathetic than Him. Paul Bradshaw’s main character is sometimes entertaining, but hard to love while refusing to grow up and learn from his mistakes.
While the play is a two-hander, there are sporadic audio interludes in the form of voice notes from Dani (Jade Anouka). She’s a gobby friend who questions his pursuit of men with ambiguous sexuality. Understandably exasperated, she implores him to find “a rainbow flag-waving gay guy”. Who knew it was possible to steal a scene with a disembodied voice? It’s not just that the messages that are well written and delivered with comic precision, Dani is the only voice of reason in the play.
Lusting after an unavailable or problematic partner is a universal theme, but also a basic highway to tragedy. It usually ends in disaster, anguish or a hard slap of spiritual reckoning. Enduring a painful crush on a seemingly heterosexual friend or colleague is a well-worn queer trope that’s bled into popular culture. It’s a leading reason for the historic concept of the Tormented Gay. In the 1950s, Sal Mineo’s Plato is punished for crushing on James Dean by being gunned down by the cops in Rebel Without a Cause. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, a frustrated gay becomes a master criminal and a brutal serial killer. See! Unrequited gay love can only lead to death- yours, or theirs. Mercifully, Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing drew a line under all that psychosis and gave the gays a happy ending.
tell me straight has moments of charm and humour, but its main theme of falling for straight men feels a bit retrograde. Haven’t we concluded that such habits are unhealthy flaws, fuelled by self-loathing? Not only that, but haven’t we progressed to the point where as a community, we’re questioning the terms ‘straight acting’ and ‘masc for masc’? In the current dating and pop culture climate, very few of us have time for gays who pretend to be straight, never mind straights who pretend to be gay.
tell me straight is part of a Park Theatre double bill with Paul Bradshaw’s world premiere of aggy. Also co-directed by the author, this 70-minute drama feels more contemporary and sharper than its sister show in the first half. Matthew Jordan (Lawrence) and Jean-Luke Worrell (Mahlik) have fantastic chemistry as a newly co-habiting couple with different ethics, ethnicity and values. Lawrence is a neo liberal freelance artist and a home counties princess, while Mahlik is black, working class and conscious of the race and class dynamics of their relationship. The scenes where such issues rose to the surface felt spiky, heartfelt and true. Bradshaw’s writing in aggy is pleasingly provocative and on point. The performances from both actors were absolutely first rate.
Prompted by Mahlik’s suggestion, Lawrence claims to be questioning his gender identity. This insensitive wheeze is then wheeled out by the petulant artist as a marketing ploy to get more PR and street cred. Ambitious artists have done far worse for much less. Jack Gittins gives an excellent digital cameo as the non-binary influencer, who Lawrence exploits for credibility. Tight direction from Imogen Frances kept this piece lively and engaging, even though some of the narrative outcomes feel a tad unlikely.
tell me straight and aggy are at Park Theatre until 28th March 2026, https://parktheatre.co.uk/events/tell-me-straight/
Reviewer: Stewart Who?
Reviewed: 7th March 2026
North West End UK Rating: