DOHERTY’S WARMTH AND CHARISMATIC PERFORMANCE CONSISTENTLY ELEVATES THIS PIECE

By Emma Carney | Bunny Pudding · Digital Coven · @bunnyscopes ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

Andrew Doherty’s Sad Gay AIDS Play is a mischievously humorous satire that sends up the nature of arts council funding in the UK and lands its punches with a knowing, mischievous laugh. A former banker now turned self-described impoverished playwright, having quit his Deloitte job and with his grandmother frustratingly still alive and not leaving him any inheritance. Doherty takes us on the fraught and hilarious creative journey of developing his Arts Council-commissioned piece.

Doherty performs across five “movie” scenes, playing every character himself. From a disapproving mother to rock star Freddie Mercury, to a quietly hopeful northern boy dreaming of decorating cupcakes, these moments are both absurd and unexpectedly heartfelt. A group sequence inspired by the cast of Kes is a particular highlight, delightfully ridiculous and a showcase of his natural flair for character acting.

The Arts Council panel, ever-present via video call, is hilariously drawn. Masked and hellishly bureaucratic, they insist that as an out gay man, Doherty must “stay in his lane” and write something sad, meaningful, and inevitably, about AIDS. The resulting pastiche, “AIDS Actually,” is deliberately dreadful: a chronicle of the HIV crisis written from the perspective of someone who wasn’t there. Trust me, it’s hilarious. Many a creative will recognise the narrow constraints being skewered: the hyper-focus on misery, the pressure to tell the “right kind” of underprivileged story, and the box-ticking of under-represented access.

A segment that relocates the story from Soho’s gay scene to a Geordie mining village, another ACE demand, is brilliantly observed but feels slightly disconnected from the material around it. That said, it remains very comical, and Doherty’s commitment to the bit is unwavering.

What consistently elevates the piece is Doherty’s performance. His warmth and charisma carry the audience through any uneven patches. One tabletop moment, in particular, highlights his natural flair for connection with the audience to hilarious effect, cutting through the heavier framing with bursts of energy and charm.

Beneath the humour, the show asks a sharp question: why must a gay man write a play about AIDS simply because it fits a funding mandate? Doherty’s real desire to create a campy, character-driven piece that shines through, and I truly want to see The Real Housewives of Wife House show. I await it avidly.

A highly recommended show from a very exciting performer.

Andrew Doherty: Sad Gay AIDS Play is running at Soho Theatre until Saturday 21 March.

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