With Matthew Todd’s Blowing Whistles and now The Pride at The Royal Court, gay theatre is coming of age.
Exploring parallel relationships between a gay couple in 1958 and 2008, Alexi Kaye Campbell's debut play shows how far we've come and how far we still have to go. The repression felt by married Phillip in the 50s, is expertly contrasted with modern Oliver's self-destructive sex "addiction".
But The Pride excels because of Campbell's potent writing. It's not just what the characters are saying, but the way they say it. The actors superbly navigate between comic moments and fast tricky dialogue that shows the uselessness of words when you can't express what you need to.
Indeed with lightning costumes changes and two sets of characters Bertie Carvel (Oliver), JJ Feild (Philip) and Lyndsey Marshal (Sylvia) manage to absorb and move the audience effortlessly.
And with their usual flair, director Jamie Lloyd and designer Soutra Gilmour have again created a seamless production that questions the nature of pride, and poses unflinching questions about today's gay culture.