Written by Paul Bradshaw, the two plays offer a witty and candid look at queer life in contemporary London. tell me straight follows a man attempting a 30-day detox from alcohol, fast food and sex after a string of hook-ups with straight men, while aggy explores race, gender and privilege as a couple experiment with creating an alter ego to help one partner advance his creative career. Together, the plays explore the ways we shape and perform our identities in relationships, work and wider society, moving between humour, tenderness and darker questions around authenticity and ambition.
Review by Richard Lambert.
For me, your theatre experience starts when you arrive at the theatre and unfortunately on this occasion it started a bit dodge and got worse. Arriving at the venue the press desk was outside and I was pleased to be greeted by the PR company and given a card with my name and hand-written seat number and even better a drinks voucher. Lovely welcome.
Then, I moved towards the venue and encountered the first volunteer. Showed my card at the door and directed towards the Box Office. Waited to be served at the Box Office to be told there was no need and I could enter.
Went down 2 flights of stairs to -1 and struggled to get into the holding pen of -1 cos the bar queue blocks the bottom of the stairs and goes around the corner. Apologising to everyone to get through and join the end of the bar queue and as I got closer to the bar I also blocked people trying to come into venue.
I collected my drink and head downstairs. Another 6 flights of stairs down and we’re at -4. The House isn’t open so we wait. Showtime comes and goes and the house isn’t open. At this point, the usual procedure would be to make an announcement, apologise to the waiting audience, give a status update, and the audience are generally very understanding. After all, it’s live theatre. But there doesn’t appear to be any management informing the staff or looking after the audience. Bit like a RyanAir nightmare flight.
I ask when the house will open and told “don’t know” I ask again and was told “there are technical difficulties”. Yes, let’s blame technical staff who are more than likely the only ones ready to go. Annoying! I ask two more staff who are on radios over the course of the 45 minutes and told “we don’t know but there are technical difficulties”. Clearly, they’ve closed ranks and aren’t telling what’s going on. Somehow though, the technical difficulties are solved – I guess they must have Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother on staff if an unknown technical difficulty can be solved – must be a modern-day miracle. We enter the venue 20 minutes after show time. I fully understand there can be challenges on press night, but don’t lie to the audience, we aren’t stupid.
So, I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder at -4 alongside 200 other people in a very small area for an hour with no announcements about what’s occurring.
At my age, with my medical conditions, this is a painful experience to stand for an hour with no chance to walk and move a little. Staff push back and forth and you very much feel you’re in the way and we actually are.
Then begins the slowest, longest house open process I’ve ever seen. The audience came in “two by two” over another 20 minutes.
The show eventually starts 40 minutes late following the audience having to stand for an hour as if in a cramped elevator (or pigs in a lorry going for slaughter).
So having endured all this, the play starts. This is not a new play, far from it. In fact it’s been around for quite some time:
King’s Head Theatre, London – 17–21 August 2021
Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester – 26–31 October 2021
Turbine Theatre, London – 2–7 November 2021
Chiswick Playhouse, London – 15–26 February 2022
Park Theatre (Park90), London – 3–28 March 2026
King’s Head Theatre, London – 15 October–14 November 2026
It’s also benefited from Arts Council funding:
Arts Council England – Funding connected with Paul Bradshaw’s wider work, including writing workshops for queer and working-class artists; specific grant amount and date unverified.
ATG – Ian McKellen’s Producers Grant – Support for the 2026 Park Theatre production; separate from Arts Council England funding.
Paul Bradshaw has not only written “Tell Me Straight” but he performs in it also. One costume and on-stage throughout. His co-actor multi-roles and just adds different tops to help confuse us with which character he’s playing.
The direction and staging is devoid of anything except a chair or two that come and go and placed upstage against the back wall when not required. The set is a back-drop that seems irrelevant to any of the scene locations or staging. We see the cast sit on the stage and walk around each other and it feels very much like a drama school examination to show understanding of “power in stagecraft”.
Having been rather frustrated by the entire evening’s experience I have to admit that I left at the interval as I wasn’t expecting to be at the interval, and just wanting to get home late to my dog.
It also is very annoying when a production uses sexually charged imagery to sell a show on false expectations. I’m not even sure it’s legal to do so. Their promotional image implies a shirtless man is being serviced by another who is on his knees. I think you know the implication here and nothing of this sort was evident in what I saw.
It may well be that the venue is run at the moment like a headless chicken as they are advertising for an artistic director and chief executive following the departure of their previous Chief Executive in June 2026. I’m hoping the venue manages to limp along or even do better until their new management is in place Spring 2027.
Having said that, my instinct is that the audience really enjoyed the show and subsequent reviews have been very positive.
Cast
Paul Bradshaw – Him
Elliott Rogers – Matt / Ryan / Lee
Matthew Jordan – Lawrence
Jean-Luke Worrell – Mahlik
Jack Grittins – Rex
Jade Anouka – Dani (voiceover)
Creatives
Paul Bradshaw – Writer & Co-Director
Imogen Frances – Co-Director & Intimacy Director
SH Productions – Producer
Damien Stanton – Set & Costume Designer
Cheng Keng – Lighting Designer
Eamonn O’Dwyer – Sound Designer
Matt Powell – Video Designer
Alice O’Hanlon – Movement Director
Georgie Rankcom – Dramaturg (aggy only)
Zoë Birkbeck – Rehearsal Photographer
Anna Eagle – TSM
Lauren Dalboth – Stage Manager
Tickets: Click here