Charlotte Dowding, Alex Britt & Martin Sarreal in Dumbledore Is So Homosexual, Southwark Playhouse Aug 2023. Photograph: David Jenson

Followers of Harry Potter will little question benefit from the references to the Wizarding World, however Robert Holtom’s play Dumbledore Is So Homosexual is, in essence, a homosexual coming-of-age story.

It begins when Jack (Alex Britt) is 12 and joins in together with his associates’ homophobic name-calling out of concern of being on the receiving finish. In the meantime, his dad (Martin Sarreal) insists the TV is turned over when Graham Norton comes on due to his sexuality.

Jack’s relationship together with his mother and father and finest associates Sally (Charlotte Dowding) and Ollie (additionally Sarreal), on whom he has a crush, performs out by way of his teen years, culminating in a devastating occasion.

However what if, like Hermione, you may use a time-turner and return and alter sure occasions in your life, make completely different selections based mostly on hindsight and expertise? Would the end result be completely different?

In mixing within the film references, you’ll be able to’t assist however draw parallels between movie fiction and Jack’s ‘actual life’. Dumbledore, as Jack tells us, is the one homosexual character within the sequence, however JK Rowling kills him off.

Jack initially tries to ‘kill off’ any concept that he’s homosexual by going alongside together with his associates and getting a girlfriend.

Is Holtom additionally displaying that life is not like the films? Or that glad endings will be bittersweet, similar to in Harry Potter?

Dumbledore Is So Homosexual would not essentially have something new to say about rising up homosexual, though it does spotlight prejudice and typically doubtful ranges of consent throughout the homosexual neighborhood.

It’s extra playful and energetic than darkish and critical, with agile performances from the solid of three.

I am giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Dumbledore Is So Homosexual, Southwark Playhouse

Written by Robert Holtom

Directed by Tom Wright

Solid: Alex Britt, Charlotte Dowding & Martin Sarreal

Working time: 70 minutes with out an interval

Reserving till 23 September; for extra data and to purchase tickets go to the Southwark Playhouse web site

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