Arts REVIEW: Pirates of Penzance @ ENO This delightful and vivid production is warm enough to please the fans, clean enough to please the critics and fresh enough to draw in a new curious crowd this is smooth and fresh revival. Recommended. By Eric Page • 4 min read
Arts REVIEW: Gaslight @ Theatre Royal Tightly written, well-acted and delightfully compact production with a few well timed thrills, Gaslight is a lovely night out and worth trotting along to if you fancy some rather delightful quality writing performed with relish by this safe engaging team . It is 2 hours 25 minutes (including interva By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts OPERA REVIEW: Rigoletto @ ENO A tragic story of jealousy, vengeance and sacrifice, Rigoletto is one of Verdi’s most popular operas. Jonathan Miller’s much-loved ‘Mafia’ production makes a welcome return to the ENO stage, relocating the action to New York’s Little Italy in the 1950s with a tightly cut ‘ Mad men’ swagger to the co By Eric Page • 4 min read
Arts REVIEW: Rent @ Devonshire Park Theatre This show now in its 20th year and wrapped round the plot of La bohème centres on the lives of a group of impoverished young American artists struggling with identity, HIV, homelessness, politics, death and a world which doesn’t seem to care about them or their dreams. This interwoven group are fran By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts BOOK REVIEW: The Life and Treasures of Collector Charles Leslie: Kevin Clarke The Art of Looking The Life and Treasures of Collector Charles Leslie Kevin Clarke Have you heard of Charles Leslie? Thomas Mann pinched his butt. He has the biggest penis collection in the world. He is one of the fathers of modern New York’s SoHo neighborhood. And he is together with his partner Fr By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts BOOK REVIEW: A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Across the World How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first ‘lesbian’? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily ‘gay’? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing? A Little Gay History takes objects ranging from Ancient Egyptian papyri and the erotic scenes on the Roman By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts BOOK REVIEW: Mentaiko Itto Poster Book: You can’t imagine Japan’s manga scene without Mentaiko Itto’s strange but funny gay mangas. Bruno Gmünder publishes his works for the first time in English, introducing him to a broader audience. With two manga volumes already released: Priapus and The Boy Who Cried By Eric Page • 1 min read
Arts BOOK REVIEW: Gay Novels of Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth, A Reader’s Guide Gay Novels of Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth, A Reader’s Guide Drewey Wayne Gunn A book about books, what meta fun! While American gay fiction has received considerable scholarly attention, little has been given to developments in other English-speaking countries. This survey catalogs 254 no By Eric Page • 1 min read
Arts BOOK REVIEW: Upstream: Mary Oliver Upstream follows Oliver as she contemplates the pleasure of artistic labour, her boundless curiosity for the flora and fauna that surround her, and the responsibility she has inherited from the great thinkers and writers of the past, to live thoughtfully, intelligently, and to observe with passion. By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts BOOK REVIEW: The Better Blow Job: Bruno Gmunder Use your head to give the best head, exploring technique and ways to improve it, sharing experience and suggestions to explore and extend yours and his pleasure, this book is as stuffed full as you’re gonna be. By Eric Page • 1 min read
Arts REVIEW: Winter Skating @ Pavilion Ice Rink Grab it while you can, as it will be gone again for another year on the 15th January. It’s a little quieter than before Xmas but just as much fun, with plenty of skates to hire, lockers, loo’s, viewing area and pretty good music provided by the local radio station the Pavilion Ice rink is a real Jan By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts book review: date of birth, time of death: pp hartnet It’s punchy, practical, and well-honed heft will slap you with its audacity, and then comfort you with the cold comfort of truth. It’s never clear if this is fantasy, confession or observation in the many seriously sexual gay male spaces Hartnet is very familiar with, but its sharp edged needling vo By Eric Page • 2 min read
