Michael Pope is Gay for Pay

It's only fair to start by saying this show has been miscategorised. Pope paints a picture, tells a story, pulls at your rain-soaked, invariably heavy heart strings more than most. Unfortunately however, this simply shouldn't be classed as a comedy show.

It's theatre. Pure theatre infact. The audience hangs off every syllable, greeting each fresh pause with respectful pin-drop silence, from opening tirade to final sigh. It's poetry in motion, a joy to behold, an absurdist, intriguing, beautifully nuanced performance from the American as he invites you on a nothing-to-lose, thrill-ride journey of his own personal self-discovery. He takes you from naive innocent to darkened soul, from wide eyed and bushy tailed to bleary eyed and bedraggled.

Sexual undertones are present throughout and often raise their head in a relatively sinister fashion but with Pope as navigator you never feel like these will get out of hand. They subside as quickly as they rise but the younger and the more faint of heart may find them a little too intrusive. The journey itself is surprisingly enjoyable, despite it's inherent darkness. Sadly however, the comedic elements are simply eclipsed by the inherent theatre of it all.