Andrew Doherty @ Pleasance Dome
Andrew Doherty returns to the Fringe with an irreverent takedown of arts funding bureaucracy and the desire to see artists to milk their trauma
Riding high on the success of his sell-out debut, Gay Witch Sex Cult, at last year’s Fringe, Andrew Doherty gives a spectacularly confident showing in his new show, Sad Gay AIDS Play. With a performance that, frankly, would come across as arrogant from anyone else, Doherty's camp cockiness is so charming that the audience almost immediately come to expect the greatness he promises. The piece is no epic for the ages, but by god is it witty, dark, and at times, deranged.
Watched by the omnipresent (and occasionally omnipotent) force that is Arts Council England, Doherty pitches the gritty HIV drama that’s the key to getting his funding. It’s a far cry from his usual comedy, and he knows that – he’d much rather be making ‘The Real Housewives of the Wife House’. It’s particularly clever how Doherty weaves genre parody with genuine critique of the trauma exploitation genre that overpopulates the theatre scene. It’s a trope that puts creatives, particularly those who are minorities, into a box; Doherty, clearly, intends to destroy the box using his protagonist, Harry Manlove, as a satirical weapon.
Doherty’s performance as Manlove should reasonably demand sympathy as we watch the character lurch from one tropey tragedy to the next, but is so purposefully over-acted that it can only be met by roaring laughter. It seems even Doherty struggles not to join in himself at times. Each and every obvious joke is laced with a venom that reveals a deep frustration with the losing game of acquiring arts funding. As he is goaded by the shadowy Arts Council to milk his trauma (and eventually, his imagination) for all it’s worth, the play-within-a-play becomes increasingly erratic and extravagant.
At times, Doherty pushes the limits of satire; yet he remains tethered by his delightfully dark sense of humour. What’s most enticing about Sad Gay AIDS Play is the complete sense of irreverence which it holds for everything – for expectation, taboo, and most of all for theatre itself.
Andrew Doherty: Sad Gay AIDS Play, Pleasance Dome (10 Dome), until 24 Aug, 8.30pm, £9-£15.50