REVIEW: Gay Witch Sex Cult at King’s Head Theatre, 11-15 July

‘perfectly crafted and controlled’ ★★★★ ½

        “It is a truth universally acknowledged,” Kaelan Trough reads from a spooky book he has found lying around in one of three abandoned gynaecological hospitals on a remote island, “that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” He throws the book away, primarily because he hates reading but also because, being gay, he doesn’t acknowledge this supposedly universal truth. This brush with classic literature encapsulates Gay Witch Sex Cult’s playful attitude to cultural touchstones. The Wicker Man, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Omen hover over the play’s proceedings, nudging us to await certain twists and revelations, but Kaelan is more interested in dwelling on the erotic minutia of the recent Call Me By Your Name.

  As Kaelan narrates his adventures across these demon-infested hospitals, carefully avoiding contact with anything that might have touched female genitalia or would require him to read for more than a few seconds, the word that kept running across my mind was, “assured.” Everything – from the script and performance by Andrew Doherty to the direction by Martin Willis – felt perfectly crafted and controlled. Doherty, as the blithely bumbling Kaelan Trough, was at once perfectly naturalistic and completely over the top. The trick of the play, which might have gotten stale quite easily, is to turn a stalling speech by Trough as he awaits the arrival of his husband to their baby’s gender reveal party into a story about (no surprises here) his run-in with a gay witch sex cult – a run-in that may not quite have ended yet.

 This piece is at once a perfect entry into the genre of folk horror, in which an overweening protagonist descends on a cut off, spooky, rural village with disastrous results, and a parody of the genre. And though the audience laughed straight through, probably more than I’ve ever heard an audience laugh, they also jumped in fear. Cara Compass, technical director, flawlessly unspooled some of those scares via the slides that accompanied Doherty’s monologue. The play veered between hilarity and pathos (a bit in which Kaelan narrated the peach scene in Call Me By Your Name from the point of view of the peach led to his chilling realization of a betrayal) in a way that felt completely satisfying. Its sixty-minute run time was perfect – and though I could have watched more of it, I also admired its restraint in not overstaying its welcome. At the performance I attended, Andrew Doherty stepped out of character at the end to thank the audience for their enthusiastic response, and to ask us to spread the word to encourage more people to attend. I can wholeheartedly do so; this was one of my favourite theatrical experiences this year, and I’m still laughing at Kaelan’s complaint that writing is just a weird form of reading (I think you have to have been there…. and you should!)

Gay Witch Sex Cult, written by Andrew Doherty, King’s Head Theatre, 11-15 July, produced by Objectively Funny, https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/gay-witch-sex-cult

Andrew Doherty - Writer & Performer

Martin Willis - Director

Cara Compass - Technical Director

Reviewer Clio Doyle is a playwright and university lecturer.