PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Fucking Men

Fucking Men

Arts Theatre, Covent Garden

With its unabashedly sexual title, set and content, it is hard to say whether Joe DiPietro's display of 'the empty existence of the urban gay male' does the reputation of gay culture more harm than good. Whilst Fucking Men delivers a frank, no holes barred account of gay relationships, the necessity to sensationalise the characters and the liaisons they involve themselves in suggests a willingness to revel in and even endorse the remaining taboos that surround homosexuality. The title has to be partly blanked out on promotional material and referred to by box office staff as 'F'ing Men'. In this respect, the play seems to be revisiting previously trodden ground; the play texts of Ravenhill's 1996 Shopping and Fucking initially had to be sold in paper bags. Is society still childishly attracted to a play just because it has an expletive in its title?

Despite the scandal of the title and the occasional overtly stereotypical presentation (pink y-fronts, a studded belt and a love of Brokeback Mountain) Fucking Men is undeniably entertaining. A large cast and a fairly short play aid the show's pace, switching rapidly but clearly between different encounters. Characters remain on stage for a time after their scenes, which is initially confusing, but eventually contributes to the depiction of the casual anonymity of the sex the characters experience.

DiPietro shows a blunt divide between love and sex. Couples who love each other very rarely have sex, and those who have sex very rarely love each other. The world these characters inhabit, despite the prevalence of physical intimacy, is unquestionably isolated. All of the characters rehearse monologues which they then integrate into sexual scenarios, disclosing their desperate quest to affirm their identity, and to attempt to live out their individual imagined dramas.

Fucking Men brings the audience face to face with many home truths. "People don't call when you're desperate, that's the first rule of life" demonstrates the frequent inability to interact successfully and to find what is 'sincere'. This play is honest and funny and, apart from a few dodgy accents, very smooth. It does not however present the gay community in a very even-handed way. From DiPietro's account, it would seem that gay men inhabit a loveless underground world of hedonism and dishonesty. Yes, it is liberated to be able to show this, and yes the play is lively and enjoyable. However, in its reinforcing the notion of the gay community as a staunchly separate world, Fucking Men is something of a self-sacrifice. By ignoring the fact that heterosexual relationships can be just as blighted by the issues shown as gay relationships, DiPietro perhaps does the gay community damage.

Helena S Rampley

Fucking Men runs until 31st December