Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz
This preview is from Edinburgh Fringe 2023. Jamz's techno treatment of bullfighting will be sent to the Royal Court in November 2023.
Nathan Quiley-Dennis almost hit me with the phrase "ring bull". His debut album Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz is more than just a great tribute to his hometown (and mine!) of Birmingham. It doesn't say much about our famous center, but it would be a good place to start a date. But it also uses the second city as a kind of romantic backdrop for the story of the young Black Brahm's encounters with the Espada.
The background for such stories is always other cities. But that rarely happens in Birmingham, a city so pathologically self-absorbed that it seriously reconsidered last year's Commonwealth Games slogan: "Come if you want."
And it's nice to hear the amazing arrival story, which includes rave reviews from the seemingly thousand-year-old McDonald's from Digbeth, on the roundabout leading to New Street station above the rotunda; Ignore the reminder that Birmingham has more canals than Venice...
Maybe it's a reminder that most ordinary people come from Birmingham, because you can get away from the geography and still create a brilliantly funny coming-of-age drama about Nathaniel, a young black man who assimilates into low expectations and society. He never followed through on his promise and Arts degree and instead settled for the call center being too hot.
He channels quite a bit of his creative energy into women with carefully planned and planned first dates... even if it seems like he needs a little more. At the beginning of the play (not necessarily an autobiography), Nathaniel Quiley-Dennis tells a great, funny and energetic anecdote about a regular hairdresser who goes on an 18-week vacation to the Caribbean and is afraid to find someone new. The girl who cut her hair all the way to her date tonight just calls him "Beyoncé" now.
It doesn't work like that, which is not surprising. But when Nathaniel discovers that his colleague Kelly is interested in him - and wants to plan their evenings himself - he goes on a date that could change his life forever:
It's a very enjoyable watch, with some great directorial decisions by director Dermot Daly and Tim - especially in a segment where Nathan's dialogue with his co-star is presented only in snippets of Beyoncé's lyrics. There's a larger subtext to where young black people are allowed to go—whether it's the art world or clubs that play black-discovered music. And the show's secret weapon is Quilley-Dennis herself, with her megawatt energy and sunny affability that makes it a pleasure to spend time in her company.
