🎭 Spit In My Face
📍 Camden People's Theatre, 58-60 Hampstead Road, London, NW1 2PY
🗓 Wednesday 21st August 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
INTIMATE, SEXY AND POWERFUL
Written and performed by Matthias Moret, SPIT IN MY FACE is the latest show from Something Queer Productions and played last week at Camden People's Theatre as part of this year's Camden Fringe.
The pure excellence of both the writing and the acting made you instantly forget you were watching a play and I have never known an audience be so silent as Moret held us in the palm of his hand, mesmerising us as he delivered a breathtakingly authentic performance from start to finish.
He enters the stage as Pierre and informs us this is not a solo piece - he's expecting Adam, his boyfriend of 4 years, to join him. As he's running late, Pierre starts to fill the time by talking us through the history of their relationship, which he does in a very natural yet neurotic way!
At Pierre's request, his relationship with Adam is open and polyamorous. This is very much evident as he is continually distracted by Grindr notifications as he talks to the audience. With his chiselled jawline and sculpted body, Pierre is obviously a hit with the users of the notorious app.
Pierre seems relaxed in his relationship status, although struggles with the amount of questions he recieves from friends. Why do people ask such personal questions of him? Is privacy not a thing anymore? Or is it only when your relationship strays from the accepted norms that others seem to think it's okay to ask such intimate questions?
There is no doubt how much Pierre loves Adam. This is evident by the way he speaks about him and the constant references to "his smile", but is he starting to doubt the relationship? They have rules, or agreements as they call them, about their relationship status and Pierre has broken one of them, making him feel as if he's cheated and hurting Adam.
One thing this piece does expertly is lay out the facts about polyamory, dispelling taboos in a frank and wonderfully honest way. There is a part where Pierre becomes defensive and is almost judging the audience as he perceives we are judging him. I found this utterly to be an incredibly fresh and progressive piece of theatre and it was moments like this which captivated me immensely.
Moret completely threw himself into the part and shone as a beacon of believability, giving a masterclass of performance and storytelling. The way he used a shirt and a bunch of roses throughout as representations of his story just blew me away. So simple yet impeccably thought out and executed in such a way that drew the audience ever closer.
The creativity on display here is exceptional and this is a highly sexualised performance, with depictions of intercourse and masturbation as well as a wonderfully inventive representation of ejaculation, but is never lewd or obscene. Moret understands the power in silence and the hushed moments provided an incredible amount of emotion and tension.
We discover that as their relationship has progressed, Adam constantly seems to be busy and Pierre is seeing less of him. He is lonely and loses himself in a Grindr wormhole just to experience validation and to feel wanted - if only for a moment.
Pierre finally accepts that his lifestyle choice has cost him his relationship and you can feel his heart breaking in front of you in such a pure and truthful way. By this point, you love and care for him as if he is an old friend and you just want to get out of your seat, give him a hug and tell him that he will get through this and everything will be okay.
Never shying away from its subject matter or being afraid to speak its truth, SPIT IN MY FACE is one of the most outstanding pieces of theatre I have seen this year. I watch a lot of performances and for a one person show to make me feel so connected to the character that I feel physically sick with emotion is very rare. Moret and Something Queer productions have delivered an extraordinary piece of theatre.
If you ever get the chance to see this production, or any other from this incredible creative team, then jump at it. After seeing two brilliant shows from them this year I'm already excited to see what's next. This piece was hard to watch at times due to some of the subject matter, but that just made it all the more captivating.
I hadn't expected the piece to be quite as intense as it was, but as the intensity grew I became more and more absorbed in the unfolding story. This has rewritten the book on what theatre should be like and I'm here for it.
Absolutely flawless on every level. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars!
Neill Kovacic-Clarke
All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one reviewer.
My ticket for this performance of Spit in my Face was gifted by the Something Queer Productions who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.
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