“Buff” by Ben Fensome is an enjoyable one-man show about the insecurities and challenges of a gay man who does not fit the Grindr ideal. Presented by Emmerson & Ward Productions, this performance was at the Waterside Arts Centre in Sale as part of the Pride in Trafford season.
The unnamed main character is a Year 4 teacher of cuddly proportions; and he has just rented out his spare room to a new flatmate: Jamie. Jamie works out at the gym at 5am every morning. Jamie has sharply-defined transversus abdominis muscles where our hero has a generous muffin-top. Jamie is a star on Instagram. In short: Jamie is buff. Desired, and sought after. And his new host is not.
This short play skips rapidly through multiple time zones as we get a snapshot of the protagonist’s life over the duration of Jamie’s residency in his flat. Sometimes, the character literally gets out only one line before lights and sound dramatically change, and we are in another location and another day or night. Quite a few times we are snapped into a classroom, where the protagonist tries to keep order among his lively nine-year-olds, while avoiding queries about weddings and girlfriends. It was interesting to note the demeanour of respectability and age-appropriateness he kept in those scenes (and that he is a genuinely lovely teacher!), and the contrast to the completely unfiltered side of his personality that he demonstrated everywhere else.
This character is a very nice man, who yearns to be loved and in love, but also is dealing with the gay sex dating world in all its crudest glory. Over the period of the play he develops from a sweet teddy bear to a figure of piteous desperation, bitten by repeated rejection and loneliness. And yes, he starts getting feelings for Jamie…..
Jamal Franklin was utterly delightful as the main character. His beaming charisma filled the stage, and his mercurial fluidity poured sixteen different expressions into every sentence. All his lines were dialogue to other characters, so he had to bring multiple invisible people to life quite rapidly, and we could envisage every one of them.
Director Scott Le Crass worked his tech team hard, with every micro-scene broken up into changes of lighting and sound that helped transport us further. The set was of only one single pink chair, but between the technical effects and Franklin’s performance energy as an actor, the stage was always filled with a swirl of whatever new world the script was taking us to now.
Currently on national tour.
Reviewer - Thalia Terpsichore
On - 15.05.2025
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