Boys on the Verge of Tears is one of the toughest, grittiest plays I have come across.
Having premiered at the Soho Theatre in London in 2023, it is an unrelenting 95 minutes of mainly toxic masculinity, in all its forms.
Photos by Ben Andrews
These are boys and men, some grappling with their identity and feeling the pressure to conform, others experimenting.
Vignette after vignette plays out with five accomplished actors doing the heavy lifting from one encounter to the next.
Provocation, bashings, name calling, fetishes, gay and straight, young and old – more and more is thrown at us. Vulnerabilities and insecurities are laid bare.
All takes place in a public bathroom, where the flotsam and jetsam flock in droves.
The introduction sets the tone.
A father is trying to toilet train his son. The youngster is in a cubicle and his dad is immediately outside. Both are having a hard time of things.
The young’un pushes back on his father’s close proximity to him, but when matters go skewwhiff, the kid wants his mum.
Next, a friendless and reckless young student, and a kid who comes out of the cubicle wearing a tiger onesie, begin playing with a sharp knife.
The former likes throwing around the “C” word. The latter, who drops his pants, admits he is scared of a lot of things.
While there are far too many scenes to reference, each is bold and evocative.
It could be five school kids talking about sex or a severe beating handed out from one young adult to another. Or a nurse in training trying to latch onto that same injured man.
Cross dressers, cocaine and getting plastered are just some of the themes covered.
To round out the offering, a Santa with a colostomy bag and only a short time to live speaks candidly to his adult stepson.
Nothing is off limits. The gloves are off.
At times recklessness shifts to unexpected tenderness. Drama, humour and sensitivities are apparent throughout.
While clearly not for everyone, I thought Boys on the Verge of Tears was outstanding.
It has been brilliantly conceived and executed.
It wreaks of authenticity and has been expertly realised by the talented cast that slips effortlessly from one character (and costume) to the next, more than 40 in all.
Ben Walter, Karl Richmond, Justin Hocking, Damon Baudin and Akeel Purmanund excel in their representations of bravado and susceptibility.
Everything about the realisation of writer Sam Grabiner’s vision is first class.
I have already referenced the acting, but that extends to the tight direction by Keegan Bragg.
Louisa Fitzgerald and Ben Andrews’ set design takes us into the heart of a john that has seen better days.
Complete with a large central trough with taps on either side, the bogs are at one end and the urinal at the other.
Louisa Fitzgerald’s costuming is another talking point – from school uniforms to masks, butterfly wings, tutus, a Santa suit and much more, it is all there.
Ethan Hunter’s searing sound design and Georgie Wolfe’s lighting transport us to the heart of the action. We read the pulse from one eye-opening scene to the next.
Boys on the Verge of Tears is tough and fearless, tragic and true – a searing and triumphant exploration of maleness, without a filter.
This shouldn’t be in the maybe pile, rather the definitely.
It is on at fortyfivedownstairs until 30th March, 2025.
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