What does it mean to ‘be a man’? Oh god, right? Such a loaded and controversial question and one we, in our queer world, have been debating or unpicking or dismissing or whatever for an age now. With masc vs sissy, ideas of ‘born this way’ vs social construction and trans* experience getting more and more opportunities to be discussed and heard, ideas of gender and identity are a part of our cultural fabric as well as the essential narratives of many of our lives.

And in Rhum and Clay’s new production Testosterone, Kit Redstone explores just this: what does it mean to be a man and what kind of man is he? Kit began transitioning a couple of years ago, and this show brings us some of the key moments of his journey. It centres around one very gendered space: the changing room of a gym. Honestly, what a frikking fraught and hideous space. Trying to negotiate his place in the pecking order, observing hyper-masculine behavior and attempting to dissect what it means and how it is learned, the simple act of changing after a workout becomes a minefield and eventually a battlefield.

Kit Redstone collaborated with Rhum and Clay and musical theatre and drag performer Daniel Jacob to devise this piece and because all these wonderful people are involved it includes a great deal of physical theatre and wonderful camp operatic epicness. Daniel Jacob is glorious as Kit’s imagined trans goddess and is the sublime vocalist for the piece. Oh god, how they use music in this… sigh… so fabulous. Julian Spooner and Matthew Wells (aka Rhum and Clay) play the M.E.N. with deliciously exaggerated (but is it, really?) panache; hilarious and uncomfortable, embodying hyper- and toxic-masculinity to the nth degree. Their physical theatre skills are seamless, breathtaking and take this production to a surreal level for when words just aren’t enough. And Kit Redstone. Oh, Kit Redstone. I don’t really want to use a trite and patronizing word such as ‘brave’ but, but… there is a stark honesty in his story that is just so fucking brave. His narrative unfolds and we are inside his mind and like most minds it is complex and at times messy and disturbing. At the same time this tale is told with so much perfectly timed and performed comedy, chutzpah and style that it is simply a joy to behold. And it will have you thinking about gender performativity and social spaces and having to negotiate the world, long after their final, well-deserved bow.

Review by Fallon Gold

Images by Richard Davenport

Testosterone is on at The New Diorama Theatre, London until 3rd December