Coming Out

Part of the fun of reviewing a show is knowing nothing about it going in. But when I arrived at Chapel Off Chapel and collected the programme for Coming Out, I had a fair idea of what to expect: another one of these coming out monologues (sometimes funny, sometimes set to music, sometimes both).

My expectations were wrong. Very wrong.

Coming Out began following the tropes that matched my expectations. Cole (Stephen Loftus) shares his coming out experiences and his thoughts about them. But then the show veers off the trajectory I’d expected of it with an unexpected twist that leaves the audience reeling.

The show is not about Cole coming out, but the far more interesting story of the closeted, married Simon (Scott Taylor) being forced to confront his sexuality.

As such, Coming Out addresses sexual identity and the impact on other people of concealing or revealing our sexual identity.

The strongest part of Coming Out was the unexpected narrative that involved four actors (the other two: Olivia Piplios, who played several roles; and Perri Cummings as the hurt-but-loving Lynda).

The biggest challenge with the show was being able to hear the actors, especially Loftus at the start of the show. I couldn’t make out a lot of what he was saying. Either get the actors to project their voices or mic them up.

If you passed over this show in the Midsumma guide because you thought it would be just another coming out show, then go back through the guide and mark it instead as a fresh take on the coming out genre of shows.

Daniel G. Taylor.

Photographer: Sionainne Costello