Shay Mace
Displaced from the Lyceum to Summerhall’s Former Gents Locker Room, aspiring national treasure Gerald Lloyd-Davies recounts the vast and varied stories of his life to an audience of devoted fans. Laurie Stevens’ vastly entertaining creation sees this fictional theatre luvvie confronted with his past and future in tandem, and with a decision that will shape his legacy. Traversing a landscape of decades is no mean feat, and Stevens’ meticulous script weaves aspiration with familial drama, and an unpacking of contentious debates around acting and who is entitled to play a role.
A well-envisioned creation, Lloyd-Davies is performed with vigour and empathy by Stevens, who seeks to paint a portrait of a colourful life alongside entertaining the room, with intermittent musical numbers and nostalgia ringing through the piece with plenty of verve and joy. Some of the musical numbers do play as crowd-pleasers, especially watching Gerald learn to ‘floss’, even if its evident that Stevens is aiming to offer thoughtful insight into how online trends might come across to Gerald. It’s when he’s regaling the room with stories of scandal and adventure that he shines brightest. Tales that follow him across his time on the West End, and even through to the deep jungles of Brazil.
In its mammoth breadth, Gerald’s story struggles to focus at points – we follow him from his youth in the Welsh Valleys onto drama school, romances in France, a career on the stage, crisis and then an ascension. To fit it all into an hour is a feat of great magnitude, and comes with tender stories covering his Welsh identity and relationships across generations that satisfy and amuse. As the piece comes to its denouement, a reckoning about Gerald’s past and his connection to the queer community, there’s a sensitive and nuanced approach taken, but one can’t help but feel as the primary story moment it deserves a greater lifespan in the runtime.
Arriving to his glory days, it’s easy to feel a lot of compassion for the character, painted in rich strokes by Stevens in fully-committed movement, speech patterns and affectations. Moments where the audience laughed heavily, or made an offhand comment, were treated with spectacular improvisation from the performer, who very much carries the swagger, sensibility, and vulnerability to play an older man who many of us might recognise in those in a certain time in their life. It’s easy to fall into his narrative, and easy to find contention with his personality in equal measure, though it too often feels Stevens has stuffed a little too much into a short time with this outing of her character comedy persona.
Recommended Drink: Pair this with a tall glass of rich Château Margaux red.
You can catch An Evening with Gerald Lloyd-Davies at Summerhall – Former Gents Locker Room every day until August 31st (except the 24th) from 17:40 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Matt Stronge
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