My Night With Reg (NHB Modern Plays)

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My Night With Reg is not a feel-good play in any respect, but there is a lot of humour in what could be a pretty depressing script of a dark time. It is the story of the vulnerability of people trapped by their own personalities forced to assess their loves, lives, and desires, and thanks to the strength of this production, it feels as relevant today as it did when first performed in 1994.

From the brilliantly over the top Geoffrey Streatfeild as the gloriously flamboyant Daniel to an impossibly beautiful Julian Ovenden, who embodies the rich-as-he-is-idle playboy John with aplomb as he swans about with hilarious vanity in every step, collectively the brilliantly funny cast of six makes up a group so witty and eloquent, you would do anything to join their gang. Meatiest of them all is Julian Ovenden as John, the charismatic enigma of the group, a hyperconfident and fantastically wealthy former rugby player who appears to lives his life unattached and carefree. Ovenden's suave, energetic performance is the engine of the production. But its beating heart is Jonathan Broadbent as John’s old uni chum Guy. Fastidious, nerdy, shit-scared of Aids and a great cook, he’s been in love with John for 20 years, dying inside a little every time his friend shags somebody else. Which he does, a lot. My Night With Reg is a nice show with a beautiful set design but I felt the themes of the show were glazed over somewhat and it was a missed opportunity to highlight an important story. I don’t really know. I think we have our own little world, I suppose, and like anyone and in any situation you have to be respectful of what you say but there’s certainly a lot of banter around and everyone thoroughly enjoyed getting into our characters, so it might be different if there were other people in the play, but I don’t think so. I think it all depends on the work that you’re doing. If I was doing a tragedy, it would probably be slightly downbeat. I’ll have to let you know when I start working with women! But, for all John’s beauty, Daniel’s dirty double entendre or Lewis Reeves’ touching innocence as the drama’s young Eric, it is Jonathan Broadbent as Guy who will steal your heart. Caught somewhere between the glue that keeps them together and a misfit outsider, Broadbent’s performance as the angst-ridden Guy is flawless and lends the piece a tenderness that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. What should I look out for?The _omappvp cookie is set to distinguish new and returning users and is used in conjunction with _omappvs cookie. Co-artistic director Dan Jarvis says: “This is the first time we’ve toured to mid-scale theatres, which is really exciting for us and part of our ethos as a theatre company. We want to be nationally-recognised for creating LGBT theatre and for taking our work across the regions so that we make sure the best gay theatre isn’t always in London.

To summarize, My Night With Reg is an enjoyable revival of Elyotand’s humorous exploration of the lives of Guy and his friends as they lived through the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Between silly arguments, unkempt promises and grave accusations, they find themselves confronted by larger questions about grief and mortality as they struggle to come to terms with the exceedingly ordinary deaths from an extraordinary disease. And then there’s Eric, the naïve Brummie 18-year-old who’s just moved down to London and, whilst coping with sorting out his own sexuality, finds this group’s lifestyle bewildering and their promiscuity upsetting. Given that theatre is not exactly an art form synonymous with staunch heterosexuality, it’s surprising how few shows about LGBT lives make it into the West End. But Kevin Elyot’s poignant comedy ‘My Night with Reg’ is deservedly doing so for the second time. Robert Hastie’s pitch-perfect 20-year-anniversary revival for the Donmar has bagged itself a transfer, as did the original Royal Court production. Kevin Elyot, who died in 2014, was born in Handsworth, went to King Edwards School, Birmingham and then to Bristol University, where he studied Drama. Rod Natkiel also studied Drama at Bristol University. He is a professional director who works pro bono for The Crescent, with previous productions there being For Services Rendered, The Laramie Project, The Lovely Bones and, recently, a spectacular 5-star reviewed The Girl on The Train. Rod has a long association with arts and entertainment in the region, having been responsible for all BBC Pebble Mill’s network television and radio output for seven years in the late 1990s and he was Chair of West Midlands Arts for four years, helping to secure funding for the Crescent’s new building which opened during his tenure.

As Guy navigates his unreciprocated love, the pair are joined by the newly Daniel (Peter Neenan), who spills all with tales of his recent sexual activities with his partner of nearly a year, the mysterious Reg, who will be attending the party that evening. The trio reminisce on their days of old, and we hear of further sexual encounters, including John and Daniel’s youthful and competitive promiscuity, in contrast to Guy, who has resorted to phone-sex with a stranger in an effort to be careful. My Night with Reg is simultaneously a heart-warming and heartbreaking tale of a group of queer friends who are infiltrated by a virus, unnamed in its clinical sense but which is embodied by a wordless lover, ‘Reg’. And it scales up very nicely indeed. Although there is much that is delicate and sad in this ’80s-set story about a group of gay friends heading towards middle age under the shadow of Aids, it’s also robustly funny, a springboard for some really meaty comic performances. Originally viewed as a play about gay life and AIDS, Robert Hastie’s revival feels more concerned with friendship, betrayal, love, passion and loss. Who’s in it?

I also can’t help wondering if he would have infused the play with more hope. Guy is the most self-loving and self-respecting of his characters but he’s sexually shunned by the others, including the man he’s secretly in love with, and isn’t rewarded with any kind of happiness by the narrative. In fact, there isn’t much redemption for any of the characters at the end of the play. Bearing in mind that since it was first performed the position of gay men in British society has improved immeasurably, I worry that this might now seem unnecessarily bleak. Kevin Elyot’s original play was first produced in 1994 by the Royal Court London, directed by Roger Mitchell. At this time, the HIV epidemic had been decimating the queer population, and yet Elyot’s play won the Evening Standard Award for Comedy (1994), and the Olivier Award for Best Comedy (1995). Elyot’s text skilfully balanced bawdy humour and emotional devastation, and navigating this is a challenge for any director. Last Updated on 2nd April 2020 My Night With Reg Tour- Kevin Elyot’s groundbreaking gay play will tour early this year in a vibrant new revival by Green Carnation Theatre Company.In many respects, My Night With Reg is the perfect West End play: audiences will either be hysterically laughing or crying. It is a really fun evening out, and then you come home feeling deeply touched. And you can’t ask for much more than that. Hugh Bonneville