Boy with Beer

Boy with Beer is a play in three acts written by Paul Boakye and first performed at the Man in the Moon Theatre in January 1992. The play takes place over three nights each separated by one month. Boy with Beer is published by Methuen Drama in Black Plays 3 edited by Yvonne Brewster (1995).

Boy with Beer
Written byPaul Boakye
Date premieredJanuary 14th 1992
GenreDrama
SettingA London flat

Synopsis

Boy with Beer is the story of a growing love affair between two black men, fraught with prejudice and the pressures of machismo. Upwardly mobile Ghanaian photographer, Karl, is the older man in search of his "African Prince." What he finds is Donovan, a confused twenty-one-year-old Caribbean van driver he met in a heterosexual nightclub. The two men exchange telephone numbers and agree to meet.[1] The play opens as Donovan shows up outside Karl's flat the next night.

Boakye covers a good deal of this affair from the first unromantic, unprotected coupling to a semblance of understanding and shared brotherhood one month later, followed by a final admission of love and acceptance between the two men albeit under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.[2] In the final act, Donovan's pregnant girlfriend has discovered that she is HIV-positive. She has decided to terminate their child. Donovan turns up at Karl’s home in tears. As the poetry writing, thoughtful sort, what should Karl do? He is in love with this confused, inarticulate homeboy, and Donovan, too, finally accepts his sexuality and that he has liked Karl from the start. He is indeed "a big black battyman…in love with big black men."[3]

Theatrical productions
  • 14 January to 1 February 1992 (World premiere): A House of Boache Production[4] in association with This is Now Theatre Company at Man in the Moon Theatre, London, directed by Steven Luckie with Clive Wedderburn as Karl, and Tunde Oba as Donovan.[5]
  • 7 April to 25 April 1992 (Sponsored by Stratford East): Man in the Moon Theatre, London, directed by Steven Luckie with Clive Wedderburn as Karl, and Tunde Oba as Donovan.
  • October 1994: Ovalhouse Theatre, London, directed by Steven Luckie with Treva Sealy as Karl, and John-Lloyd Stephenson as Donovan.[6]
  • 27 October to 13 November 1994 (Extended run): Ovalhouse Theatre, London, directed by Steven Luckie with Treva Sealy as Karl, and Tunde Oba as Donovan.
  • 14 April 2014 (South Africa): Drama & Production Studies Department at Durban University of Technology.[7] Directed by Nqobile Cele with Kwenza Ngcobo and Thembinkosi Mthembu.
  • 8 November 2016 to 26 November 2016 (King's Head Theatre - 25th Anniversary Production): Directed by Harry Mackrill with Enyi Okoronkwo as Donovan and Chin Nyenwe as Karl featuring new music from Taurean Antoine Chagar, regular collaborator of acclaimed drum and bass group Rudimental.[8]

References
  1. Nick Curtis (22–29 January 1992). "Boy with Beer". Time Out. Level-headed moustachioed photographer Karl (Clive Wedderburn) has trouble uncovering the finer feelings of coarse young raver Donovan (Roger Sewell), who's initially only after a quick shag and doesn't want his girlfriend to find out.
  2. Arthur Neslen (23–30 January 1992). "Boy with Beer". City Limits. Boakye's inspired script gently explores their relationship. In so doing, it goes quite a way towards constructing the kind of vibrant characterisations for ethnic London which Spike Lee and others have provided for ethnic New York. The acting is stunning, the production is both funny and sexy, and the occasional continuity problems barely detracts from the overall feel. Amidst the tat of the King's Road, it shines like a star.
  3. Michael Earley & Philippa Keil (ed.). The Contemporary Monologue: Men. Methuen. Life was once a rave where all the sexual boundaries were colourfully blurred. But by the end of the play, Donovan finds he has to make a hard choice between a man or a woman. Suddenly his identity begins to come together. Notice how physical and edgy his language is. It has a wonderful musical quality and is full of freedom. The actor must note the changes in Donovan's life over a short span of time.
  4. Alison Donnell, ed. (2013). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. In his self-produced Boy with Beer (1992), Boakye chooses to deal with hitherto taboo subjects including the making of a black gay couple, bisexuality, and AIDS.
  5. Leone Ross (31 March 1992). "Breaking the Final Taboo". The Voice newspaper. Playwright Paul Boakye examines gay love and AIDS in his latest play. Paul Boakye climbed off a bus one day and overheard something that touched him to the core. A Black man was telling his girlfriend, "When I first heard about AIDS, I thought, 'Boy, I ain’t never going into a swimming pool again!'" This passing comment became the basis for the playwright’s most recent success, Boy with Beer. This is Now Theatre Company examines the growing sexual relationship between two Black men and has been hailed as a first in British theatre.
  6. David Taylor (7–13 November 1994). "Boy with Beer – Oval House". Time Out (magazine). On a set appropriately dominated by a double bed, the turbulent and downright erotic encounters of Karl, a black, gay, well-adjusted, well-to-do photographer (Treva Sealy) and closeted homeboy Donovan (John-Loyd Stephenson) gradually unravel some of the existing issues and attitudes encountered by and between black gay men…It's hard not to be completely drawn into this turbulent relationship: with every twist, you’ll be praying that love really can conquer all.
  7. "Homosexuality: A Reality Still To Be Embraced". Journalism.
  8. Howard Loxton. "Boy with Beer". British Theatre Guide.

Further reading

Publications

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