JADAR

★★★★☆

Jock Night began as a short scene at Hope Mill Theatre as part of Hive North’s OutstageUs new-writing event in 2017. It toured the UK as a one-act play in 2019, before expanding into a full-length production at Seven Dials Playhouse in 2023. It now returns to the theatre where it began, in the very city where it is set, before transferring back to SDP next month.

Jock Night, the brain child of MJ Palmer, is written and directed by Adam Zane and produced by Mike Lee. The play is, essentially, about a subculture of gay men who have chemsex (that is, intentional sex under the influence of psychoactive drugs).

The play is, unsurprisingly, rather risqué. You walk into the auditorium to see people messing around under bedsheets, with the show opening with AJ getting plowed by Russell. After Russell objects to being called “daddy,” AJ says that he was speaking about “him”, prompting a third guy to pop up – it’s a threesome, and AJ is getting double penetrated.

The scene is outrageous and hilarious. Credit goes to Sam Goodchild for creating authentic portrayals of sex with their intimacy direction. Whilst pornography is criticised for being unrealistic, and glamourising sex, this scene shows how wonderfully and embarrassingly messy and funny sex can be – especially gay sex. It sets the tone for a show that is outrageous, hilarious, heartfelt, and heartbreaking.

All the sex and nudity, though realistic and authentic (and enjoyable for anyone attracted to men!), can occasionally feel a bit unnecessary and gratuitous, like it is there shock factor or laughs. It risks taking the audience out of it, or not allowing the serious themes and topics the attention they deserve. It can be hard to take anyone seriously when they’re in a jockstrap – but the nudity can be seen as metaphoric and figurative, with the men being exposed both literally and emotionally. It also normalises nudity and the human body – something which we have been taught to be ashamed of.

Jock Night is a situational comedy, of sorts, with all of the action taking place in one bedroom. Dick Longdin masterfully transforms the black box studio into a bedroom with his stylish set design, lit warmly by David Clare’s lighting, enhancing the intimacy.

Lighting and music are used effectively to represent the passing of time, which is sometimes hours and other times months. For the latter, a voiceover lists the months that have passed, saying the final month twice. The play takes place over four Jock Night events in June, August, October and December.

Setting all of the action in one room can feel restrictive and limiting, and risks the audience losing interest, especially because the play is basically just a series of conversations. The play is called Jock Night but we never actually see one; just the getting ready and aftermath. But that, in itself, is interesting, for the play is not actually about the titular Jock Nights, but, rather, the culture more broadly. The nightlife, itself, is suggested with lighting and music. Some stylised choreography could have been fun – and it would have broken all the talking up – but the play chooses realism and sticks with it.

The situational setting of the play is also effective, in that it feels intentionally suffocating, voyeuristic, behind-closed-doors, and fly-on-the-wall. It also allows the play to be more of a character study, with each of the actors playing a gay archetype that develops nicely (or not so nicely!).

Whilst the lack of racial diversity in the cast might be disappointing, it is probably a pretty accurate representation and reflection of the scene. As a person of colour, I would have liked some more intersectionality – especially as Zane is himself a person of colour – but I appreciate that a play cannot do everything, and Jock Night is already doing so much. Furthermore, such discussions could risk feeling forced and unnecessary when the play is about a specific issue in the queer community. But because of that, the characters can be played by actors of any race – indeed, the previous production had a Black cast member (but if I saw that production, I would want the play to acknowledge and engage with race/racism in the queer community because any queer person of colour will tell you that there are racial problems).

David Paisley returns to the role of Ben, a loveable daddy/bear who owns the flat. Ben’s age and wisdom are felt next to the immature young men he surrounds himself with, but, in actuality, he could be considered the most immature of them all, having drug-fuelled sex with men young enough to be his sons (and risking their lives).

I found the relationships to be quite uncomfortable; the play seems to normalise it – probably because it is normal in this subculture – but it could be interesting to explore these dynamics more. Ben says that he likes younger and older but we only see him with young men. Is there a reason why he takes more to young men? Is he living vicariously through them? Is he making up for not being able to be with young men openly when he was a young man?

David is wonderful in the role and gets a lot to play around with but there is a missed opportunity to delve deeper into his psychye (and possible trauma).

Eddie Ahrens and James Colebrook play Kam and Russell, who are not actually together but basically are. Kam is an undetectable HIV+ “mean gay” whilst Russell is a sweet, dumb muscle gay, or jock.

Russell insists that he is versatile but is actually more of a bottom (interesting surface-level commentary on bottom-shaming in the gay community that could have been explored more rather than just being the butt of jokes – pardon the pun!).

Whilst Russell is a comedy character, he gets an emotional monologue towards the end that will bring a tear to your eye.

Whilst Kam can be nasty, it appears to be something of a facade from a man living with the stigma of being HIV+. When he lashes out at AJ, who asks him if he is “clean”, we see and feel his hurt and pain, even though AJ did not know that HIV can be undetectable.

AJ, a twink, who is relatively new to the scene, is played by the charismatic Gabriel Clark. AJ goes on quite the journey over the course of the play, with clear character development as he matures and educates himself.

The cast is rounded off with Olympian turned Only Fans star Matthew Mitcham as Simon, a porn star known as “Hunter”. He’s also something of a mean gay but whilst Kam can be a bit cliquey, Simon wants Ben for himself, which forces Ben to choose between a serious monogamous relationship and his chosen lifestyle. The play does a good job of testing the relationships and dynamics between the troubled men.

For a play set in just one room, it goes on a real rollercoaster, with each character going on their own journey and ending the play quite differently to how they started, after being confronted with deceit and tragedy.

As eye-opening as it is entertaining, Jock Night will have you crying both tears of sorrow and joy. You’ll leave soaking wet…

Jock Night runs at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester until May 31 before transferring to Seven Dials Theatre, London from June 3 to 15.

Photo: Dawn Kilner