Teddy Ferrara, Donmar Warehouse, review: A sociologically provocative but over-controlled drama
The story is partly based on the real-life case of a young man who took his own life when he discovered that his room mate was spying on his actual erotic encounters with men via a webcam deliberately left-on
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There are two student suicides on the campus of the state US university which is the setting for the tack-sharp but self-puncturing new play by Christopher Shinn. One of them died before the drama begins and it's a bone of contention whether there is enough evidence to establish that he was gay. The title character (a bravely squirm-making Ryan McParland) is a lonely geek who has built up an alternative online identity that gives him an outlet for exhibitionist sexual release. Teddy's fate is partly based on the real-life case of a young man who took his own life when he discovered that his room mate was spying on his actual erotic encounters with men via a webcam deliberately left-on.
The staff and fellow-students do everything with their dead brethren but truly mourn them. Shinn's play is a clever take on whether the rhetoric of tolerance still surpasses the reality as the deceased are appropriated by different interest-groups. Matthew Marsh delivers a hilarious performance as a President tripping over himself to appear bullishly liberal but whose unreconstructed prejudices keep poking through his convoluted born-again act. The trouble, though, is that not even Dominic Cooke's astonishingly well-acted production can make you care, on your pulses, about the participants in Shinn's sociologically provocative but over-controlled drama.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments