Kevin leaves nothing to chance. Even now, coming to it a second time round, you end up going ‘Oh God, isn’t that funny?’ Every nuance and beat is put there for a reason. I think he knew exactly what he was doing… A lot of the humour comes from the awkwardness of a situation and I think everyone will be able to identify with that, and that’s where the laughter comes from. It’s quite quintessentially British in that sense. When the director Roger Michell asked me if I’d like to come and replace John Sessions as Reg, I hadn’t seen the play yet. We had a jokey rivalry, and I was loyal to Beautiful Thing. But when I saw John Sessions in the role, I was utterly bewitched. I don’t think I’d ever been in an auditorium where the laughter was so uproarious and the aching, painful silences were so intense. Tragically, playwright Kevin Elyot passed away on the first day of rehearsals for this first major London revival of his 1994 play. He was involved in auditions, though, and I am certain he would be very proud and pleased with the resulting performances from this cast and with Robert Hastie’s sensitive production overall. It’s hard to understand how anyone could classify sensible and pretty Laura Jane Matthewson (played Rose) as a dog, but some of my own worst high school insecurities came screaming to the surface as I watched her plight. Whatever the Marines’ wartime heroics or sacrifices, it doesn’t excuse such callousness in my book. But Jamie Muscato’s Eddie is redeemed.

Last Updated on 2nd April 2020 My Night With Reg Tour- Kevin Elyot’s groundbreaking gay play will tour early this year in a vibrant new revival by Green Carnation Theatre Company. Kevin Elyot’s original play was first produced in 1994 by the Royal Court London, directed by Roger Mitchell. At this time, the HIV epidemic had been decimating the queer population, and yet Elyot’s play won the Evening Standard Award for Comedy (1994), and the Olivier Award for Best Comedy (1995). Elyot’s text skilfully balanced bawdy humour and emotional devastation, and navigating this is a challenge for any director. That was probably one thing I was a little bit worried about because it’s such a different space to the Donmar; it was in that traverse, almost quite film-like [set-up]. There’s a quality to it which is very close and intimate, and now it’s about opening it up a little bit more and being caught in that almost picture frame on a classical stage. I thought it was going to be harder than it was; it’s actually been quite fun finding new ways to do things.The glass is also an ode to the continual drinking and chain-smoking from the cast, particularly from John and Benny; a painful reminder that impulsive, Dionysian indulgence kills. Even the reserved, nicotine-free and painfully boring Bernie faces repercussions for his indulgences. But, for all John’s beauty, Daniel’s dirty double entendre or Lewis Reeves’ touching innocence as the drama’s young Eric, it is Jonathan Broadbent as Guy who will steal your heart. Caught somewhere between the glue that keeps them together and a misfit outsider, Broadbent’s performance as the angst-ridden Guy is flawless and lends the piece a tenderness that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. What should I look out for? Two hours after I’d spoken to Lewis Reeves during a break in technical rehearsals for My Night With Reg, controversy breaks. His bare bottom has been deemed unsuitable by TfL and banned from the underground.

It is an award-winning comedy and, demonstrating Elyot’s supreme craftsmanship in telling a deeply serious, disturbing and sad story whilst also making the audience laugh, this is also an engrossing play of constant discoveries as the plot twists and turns. Elyot sets out to wrong-foot and surprise the audience at several moments in the play, and succeeds brilliantly in doing so. It takes on a very serious subject but it’s also incredibly funny. How do you tread that line between tragedy and comedy? Set in 1985, My Night With Reg is a story of friendship amongst a group of gay men, during a scary time in history – the AIDS epidemic. It’s a story of unrequited love, promiscuity, and the disastrous effects of that time.The _omappvp cookie is set to distinguish new and returning users and is used in conjunction with _omappvs cookie.