BULLRING TECHNO MAKEOUT JAMZ
Photo credit — Mihaela Bodlovic
Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz by Nathan Queeley-Dennis
When you step into the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court, you are welcomed into Nathan’s world, one made up of first date fails, slow jamz, a soul-crushing 9-5, and the everyday antics of a young black man just trying to feel something.
Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz is a one-man play that follows Nathan, named after the play’s writer Nathan Queeley-Dennis on his journey to find true love. A self-proclaimed serial dater undeterred by a string of failed situationships, Nathan is a true romantic, but this doesn’t just apply to his love life. Every relationship that Nathan has is defined by his passion, and devotion.
As the play opens, we witness Nathan explain the intricacies of man’s relationship with his barber, and the deep guilt he is wracked by when he has to frequent another barber’s chair. He expresses his love and adoration for the mandem, his work best friend albeit reluctantly, and for Birmingham. He loves his family too, even though his mother is overbearing and declares his dad as his “worst enemy”.
Nathan wears his heart on his many sleeves. His character is cleverly incorporated in the play’s set, a simple set, made of a red carpet, the kind you’d probably find in a local Birmingham club, and an array of shirts arranged in a circle around him. He slips in and out of each one over the course of the play, an unironed blue number for work, and a golden silk shirt for a date with the Beyonce of Kingstanding.
Conquering his way through every member of Destiny’s Child (LeToya, Beyonce, Michelle, even Farrah) he finally meets Kelly who seems to be “the one”. What Nathan feels for Kelly, brings him to his knees in true crying in the rain 90s R&B music video fashion. Upon discovering that techno music is a shared guilty pleasure of theirs, they end up at a techno club in the “Shoredtich of Birmingham” and the chaotic events of the night bring them closer together.
What started out as the best night of his life, ends with Nathan falling into a deep existential crisis. It’s in this moment the play brings us to a pivotal part of Nathan’s journey. All the markers of his identity were performative rituals for other people. He likes R&B but what he loves is techno music. He hates his 9-5 but his complaints are a way to avoid doing something about it. The romantic love he spends the play vying for does not fulfill him and he is left with only himself and his apparent failings.
This is also where we witness Nathan start a journey of self-love, with the help of his father, who is maybe not his worst enemy after all. This is an important message for Black men living in a world that seems to teach them that they need to alter themselves in order to be palatable.
Queely-Dennis, alongside the direction of Dermot Daly, teaches us that we can find the love that completes us in community, and recognition and acceptance of self.
Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz is a hilarious and often poignant display of black masculinity in the 21st century. It tenderly explores the politics of dating, the failings of capitalism, how men find safe spaces in black heart emojis instead of red, and Beyonce lyrics to show love and support to each other.
A special mention should go to Tom Foskett-Barnes for curating a score that transported us so viscerally to the 0121, and for his vast R&B catalogue.
By Melody Adebisi.
★★★★★
Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz is showing at the Royal Court until 20 December.
