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Press reaction to previous productions of Blowing Whistles
Julie Burchill, The Times
"brilliant… so fantastically tough and tender that it often feels as if someone has got you in a painful arm-lock — only to give you the sweetest, softest kiss"
Daily Telegraph
"A refreshingly comic take on being gay and romantic in a rather sordid, rather heartless culture that treats sex as a commodity, available at the click of a mouse, and regards men as over the hill by 30"
Boyz
"possibly the most moving and engrossing play since Beautiful Thing"
Time Out
"The first half of Blowing Whistles is an agreeably bitchy comedy… in the second half Todd manages successfully to double track their relationship, using it as both as an individual case and as an enquiry into the long term dynamics of gay couples – do you go on partying forever?.... Blowing Whistles is failsafe entertainment"
The Times
"wry, perceptive and very funny"
3sixty *****
"A five fabulous star play. Three cheers for Matthew Todd! At last someone dares to question how so many gay men lead their lives in these heady, liberated days.
The fabulous ‘Blowing Whistles’ has a serious important message which should be made available on the NHS for the treatment of gay men whose mistaken life mantra is: your disco needs you. It doesn’t. Your boyfriend does.
Todd’s hilarious, razor sharp script results in a play taking a credible and questioning look as our gay culture, in particular gay man’s Peter Pan obsession.
Does every 17 year old lad come out just so he can get shagged? Who do intelligent, successful gay guys in their 30s and 40s only feel validated by going clubbing every weekend, getting their disco tits out, taking loads of drugs and hanging around with other pairs of disco tits to the exclusion of all others?
Is quick-fix sex off the Net really what the term ‘gay community’ amounts to? Might some gay men prefer some D.I.Y action with their boyfriend on a Sunday rather than D.T.P.M after Action with someone else’s boyfriend?"
Aussietheatre.com
"one of the most exciting plays to come out of Mardi Gras in years"
Australianstage.com
"the play’s intuitive understanding of what unites us as human beings rather than what divides us helps this play transcend the ‘gay play’ label and reach for something universal that appeals to both gay and straight audience members"
Samesame.com
"this is the kind of theatre every gay man should see… So much soul is laid out on that stage that it’s hard to not let it affect you. If you’ve been in a passionate, emotionally-charged relationship, and the love between you changed, this play will speak to you."
Rainbow Network
"Sharp, funny, bristling with one-liners. It’s hard to find fault with this production… a funny, sexy and ultimately thought-provoking experience. Highly recommended"
UK.gay.com
"Packed with biting observations the first act is a laugh-riot, the second half is gritty, sometimes brutal and genuinely moving. In fact I actually shed a tear. I’m always slightly put off by the tag ‘gay play’ as it usually denotes something that’s amateurish, obvious and nauseatingly upbeat. This is certainly not one of them, recommended."
Pink Paper
"Truly funny and provocative"
Press reaction to current Blowing Whistles production |
