INTERVIEW: Making all the right moves with Stephen Mear Brighton-based Stephen Mear has established himself internationally as the go-to choreographer for big classy stage musicals. Fresh from his triumph with Chess in the West End, he talks to Brian Butler about dyslexia, Strictly, and working with Stephen Sondheim. By Brian Butler • 4 min read
Fringe REVIEW: Mad about the boy @The Rialto Theatre You have to feel sorry for hunky ex baseball player turned mediocre actor Bill Traylor. His desire to be a Broadway star leads him to be trapped in a bad romance, as Lady Gaga would have put it. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Fringe REVIEW: The Morning After The Life Before @Marlborough Theatre It’s timely that this play about the successful marriage equality referendum in Ireland is being aired in Brighton just at the time of another monumental referendum – on abortion laws – has been an overwhelming success in the Republic. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Fringe REVIEW: James Dean is dead! (Long live James Dean) @The Warren Theatre Box It’s no coincidence that iconic movie star James Dean’s middle name was Byron – named after the equally iconic, young, charismatic gay poet. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Fringe REVIEW: Passing On @Sweet Werks 1 This heart-rending and passionate play is about a gay couple who for once are not facing issues surrounding Aids. This tragic tale of a married gay couple in Ireland centres on their heartfelt wish to have a baby through a surrogate mother, their lawyer friend Jane. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Fringe REVIEW: The Manifestation of Trim Tab Jim @St Nicholas’ Church What if the world we live in, the universe, the galaxies, everyone we know and love are just elements of a huge computer simulation like the Matrix, and what if our lives, struggles, achievements, disappointments, disasters and even Trump are all just make-believe? By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Fringe REVIEW: Excess Baggage – Resound Male Voices When 17 men from a gay men’s choir get stuck at the airport with constant delays and very annoying tannoy announcements what do they do to pass the time? Well, sing of course. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Fringe REVIEW: Whadd’ya Know – we’re in love! @Rialto Theatre If you need an antidote to world politics and Brexit, then slip back in time to the era of Hope, Crosby and the Marx Brothers and join the ocean liner Freedonia with its motley trio of musicians Joey, Lenny and Mikey – who are not at all what they pretend to be. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Fringe REVIEW: Gypsy Queen @Marlborough Theatre The central theme of this fast-moving two-hander is “How can a boxer be gay?” And playwright and co-star Rob Ward answers his own question in this highly poetical episodic drama – “yes he can”. By Brian Butler • 1 min read
Fringe Review: Martin Lingus @Rialto Theatre On an empty stage save for a few orange crates, Martin Lingus jauntily relates his long and semi-successful series of conquests over women of all shapes, sizes, ages and sexual orientation. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
FEATURE: Rebel With A Cause Sussex-born actor, writer, director and translator Neil Bartlett directs the explosive one-man show Medea – Written in Rage at this month’s Brighton Festival. Brian Butler talks to him about his sexuality, gay politics and Greek tragedy. By Brian Butler • 3 min read
REVIEW: Quartet @Theatre Royal What do retired opera stars do in the twilight of their years? They move in together to a retirement home and bitch, reminisce and dream of what might have been. So we find a trio of almost-great singers planning their contribution to Joe Green ‘s birthday celebrations – Joe to you and me better kno By Brian Butler • 2 min read
