REVIEW: Monkeyface at Riverside Studios 6 – 21 July 2026

“A personal but largely two-dimensional take on race and gayness.”  ★ ½

Written and performed by Raphael Phillips, Monkeyface is a solo show that takes us into the inner world of a university bedroom and the adulthood awakening of a nameless protagonist: a young man who’s coming to terms with his seemingly incompatible Black and gay identities. From here, he takes us on a journey through basic flatmates and euphoric nightclubs, all while trying to find where he belongs.

It will be impossible for me to speak on much of this topic with any authority, and I acknowledge that many of the observations Phillips makes about his daily life as a Black guy I may well be blind to. But either way, I certainly don’t deny anyone’s experiences: everything he says and feels is true.

However, as a general audience member, I'm not convinced by the story. That's chiefly because the 70-minute piece is marked by missed opportunities and non-existent nuance, ultimately giving us a classically London-centric, vaguely middle-class story of queerness, which doesn’t really get to where it wants.

Because of that, it begins to feel hard to follow that such a wildly diverse community as London is alienating our protagonist so much, though I don’t doubt that it does, or that there would be such social ostracization of such a regular guy. Were it set in a rural backwater or deprived provincial town, away from the liberal airs and graces of university, it would be far more poignant – and, perhaps, the richer for it. The context here is kind of working against its point.

Likewise, it's often hard to understand a conventionally attractive, confident young protagonist who spends a lot of time agonising over the fact that nobody will kiss him on a dance floor. If it sounds like I'm being dismissive, it's only because the character isn't fully articulating what's going on with cliquey gay culture; or perhaps is mistaking internal mental struggles with external social exclusion. Both are true, but they need unpacking.

Again, there’s something interesting buried in here but it’s not yet showing its form. Maybe the more intriguing story is to be told with an unconventional-looking lead, someone struggling with real appearance issues: weight, body hair, stature, gender, deformity, disability – and skin colour; then it could fully integrate the point about homonormative ideals. And then the horrible invisibility on that dance floor makes sense.

“Every time I leave a gay club, I find new ways to hate myself”, he says insightfully – and it's true. But that's not just an issue of race; it's an issue of gayness. Racism does undoubtedly exist in the gay community, but that's not wholly what he's describing. The feelings of isolation and judgement and inadequacy, of not fitting in, of vanity and shallowness, of self-consciousness: these are universal. So the piece becomes extremely muddled with these two trains of thought: the almost ubiquitous gay-scene psyche and the common and casual racism in gayness. It’s confusing them. Again, both are true, but they need to be steadied.

On a practical note then, the audience is placed far too close to the stage, which makes it feel unintentionally intimate. Similarly confessional productions have fared better in the round, and I think the same could be true here, adding to a sense of genuine intimacy and claustrophobia. As it is, it's just a little awkward. Much of that is a product of the space itself, but I think it could have been better adapted for it.

The show could also benefit from some more resolute direction. The action is a little tonally flat throughout and there's no real character development. There’s promise when it starts to explore the divergences and dichotomies of the kind of music, venues, and dance moves of white twinks and Black boys, but it never really takes off. We skirt past multiple missed opportunities and splutter along with uncertain sermons on struggle instead. The nice idea of the protagonist finally leaving their bedroom at the end is kind of undermined by the fact that they've just got back... and weren’t agoraphobic to begin with. It feels like it needs more design.

There actually is the beginnings of a very interesting story here – something much more nuanced about the hinterland duality of mixed races – but it's not really the one he's telling.

While the awareness mission is admirable, the problem with these confidential pieces is that they feel so deeply personal to critique – and who am I to judge? This is all subjective. So I highly commend Phillips' intention, and I am rooting for his ambition. The genuine intersectionality of Black and gay identities (and actually race in general) is still often overlooked and unspoken, as though people don't quite know how to tackle it. These are stories that must be told. As it is though, we're looking at a personal but largely two-dimensional take on race and gayness that's maybe a few drafts away from elevation. In its current form, it does a disservice to both.

Phillips may yet be one to watch, but his masterwork is yet to emerge.

MONKEYFACE by Raphael Phillips, Riverside Studios 6 July – 21 July 2026

Directed by Mojola Akinyemi

Produced by BLACKRIOT Productions

Box Office: https://riversidestudios.co.uk/whats-on/bO-monkeyface/