REVIEW | Bonfire, Simon Marshall

Reviews

17 Nov

Written by Kirsty

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

It is always wonderful to see new pieces of theatre, and when the piece is beautifully written, and tells an important story it is even more exciting.

Bonfire written by Simon Marshall, we meet Leon, played perfectly by Oliver McLellen, who is telling the digital world his story. Through time jumps we learn about Leon’s journey of discovering his queer identity and navigating many issues which will resonate with so many people.

We see Leon trying to find his place in his small Derbyshire hometown, and within his own family with varying degrees of success. Through the use of a TikTok, Instagram Live style monologue we discover that Leon has a darker side to his history and the moment the audience realises what trauma Leon has endured there was a palpable atmosphere change in the audience.

Whilst the subject matter is undoubtedly dark, with references to online grooming, grief, and homophobic language, there are some really funny moments especially when we discover why Leon no longer works with “Sweaty Sandra”, and I especially loved Lucy James’s sound design with the inclusion of the sound of the dial up modem and the soundtrack grounded us in the time period of the piece.

At the heart of the story, I feel that we become an active part of Leon’s journey of reclaiming his own self and body, and also finding his place within his family. Simon Marshall created a truly rounded piece of theatre, and although we never see them it truly feels like we all know an Aunt Greta and no doubt many people will recognise the family dynamic created within the monologue. Alice Fitzgerald’s direction really makes the audience feel like they are a part of the piece and we almost became a visual representation of the unseen online audience. Speaking of the online audience, we would occasionally hear from with good, bad and sometimes hilarious comments. For anyone who has ever read the comments on a social media post and rolled their eyes, these unseen individuals were the perfect addition to the piece and gave Leon something to fight back against.

By the end of the piece, we see a Leon, who has told his story and discovers he isn’t alone in having been exploited by an unknown online presence as a younger person, and who is actively trying to rebuild his relationship with his family, and his best friend Charlie who he managed to push away in his anger. We do meet Charlie in person later in the piece, and I don’t know whether that was truly necessary and perhaps having Leon as the only person on stage, would make the piece even more impactful.

Leon also realises that he is not alone, despite spending so many years feeling isolated and afraid. We see a stronger and proud Leon emerge from the ashes of shame and exploitation and this is the true heart of the show that you are more than what others think you are.

Simon Marshall has created an important piece of queer theatre, and the fact that it is inspired by the Barnado’s 2016 report “Not on the Radar” shows that we all need to create a space where victims feel they can disclose rather than grappling with shame and fear of disclosing being worse than the attack. I can’t wait to see where this piece of theatre goes next and would go so far to say that Bonfire should be seen by every teenager and young person in some way.