It’s Galway, it’s an indeterminate period of the 2010s, and Joey is having a crisis. He is a — self-described — BAD GAY, and needs to resolve this immediately: he’s got his ideas of what properly constitutes gay culture (“Ryan Murphy shows”) and finds himself falling short.
It’s a classic set-up for your even more classic self-discovery / identity / found family chronicle, but Conor O’Dwyer (writer and sole performer) manages to elevate Homo(sapien) into something much more exciting — mostly via his exceptional acting. He is so athletic in his movements, and has such a gift for intensity: his eyes, accentuated by some running mascara (also part of Joey’s “being gay”), manage to convey everything Joey is thinking to the audience in one clean, clear transaction. You just have to look at O’Dwyer, and you’re swept up in this world of adolescent anxiety and Rihanna’s ‘S&M’.
Beyond his performance, there’s plenty more to appreciate throughout Homo(sapien): it is, of course, very funny. The script is peppered with the occasional transcendentally funny one-liner (“Have yous never read Judith Butler?”), and music is used exceptionally over the course of the hour. A particular highlight involves O’Dwyer’s representation of gay vs straight performance via Kylie Minogue and… Eminem. There’s also a scene of teenage heartbreak played out, to very amusing effect, to ‘Shake It Off’. Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break!
Homo(sapien) finds itself slotting into an emerging theme at this year’s Fringe of the significance of TV in queer life: Joey discusses how he “knows” what gay men are meant to be like, having seen them on TV (“flamboyant, fun, witty”). It’s reminiscent of Pleasance Courtyard’s SHAME SHOW, where the importance of televisual representation is placed front and centre.
Ultimately, Homo(sapien) is a lovely and entertaining show, made special by its singular performer.
P.S.: emetophobes be warned…
Homo(sapien) is running until 24 August at Snug Bar at Assembly Roxy.
Buy tickets here.
Image courtesy of Tommy Ga-Ken Wan, provided to The Student as press material