Just Don't Shout it from the Rooftops ~ [The King's Head Theatre] ~ Review

[page_on_stage]

Every queer person who has managed to take the brave leap out of the closet remembers their coming out story, an important milestone and a huge step towards self acceptance and living your truth. Personally mine was anti-climactic, I’d been dating my then girlfriend in secret for about six months, having told my parents we were just really good friends and had a lot of sleepovers. This one Sunday morning my mum came to pick me up from my girlfriend’s house and as she drove me home I decided that this was it, this was the day I’d let her know about this secret double life I’d been leading. This was the moment my life was about to change forever.

“Mum...” I said, “I, erm, I have something to tell you... I don’t know how you’re going to react... See, the thing is... I... erm...”
“You’re a lesbian,” Mum said for me, “And you’re dating Emily. I know. And it’s fine. You are who you are and I will always love you, you’re my daughter.”
And that was it. I was almost disappointed... almost.

But for every coming out story as positive as my experience there’s another story about a family torn apart by the revelation, and it’s these wildly varied and deeply personal tales Freddie Brook explores in his one man show Just Don’t Shout it from the Rooftops. Over the past two years Brook has collected coming out stories from all over the world and has woven them together into an educational and deeply touching piece of theatre. He explores the vast spectrum of experiences with a great deal of understanding and sensitivity, and although there are moments which are truly heart-breaking, the overall take away is positive and uplifting, one core message running through its centre – it gets better.

The show is made up of stories performed in the original teller’s words, giving a real candid, fly-on-the-wall feel to this piece and making it all the more poignant. Brook is a fantastic physical actor who captures the different visible quirks and speech patterns of these people wonderfully, so with each story it really does feel as though you’re meeting a different person. The pace of this show is fast, and in forty five minutes there isn’t a single lull, a single stumble, and the audience remains enraptured throughout. With nothing more than two pairs of glasses and a coffee cup, I’ve never seen anything so technically simple explore a topic this big with such earnest depth and complexity.

The idea behind this show is for it to be used as a piece of educational theatre to take to schools all over the country, to teach kids about the coming out experience, that they aren’t alone and it does get better. Open discussion and a little support is all that’s needed for LGBTQ+ children to not feel so alone, and this forty five minutes of theatre could be life changing. I wish I’d seen this when I was at school. Although things have gotten better for LGBTQ+ rights over the years homophobia is still rife, particularly in areas outside of big cities, and as someone who grew up in a tiny village I can tell you that knowing you’re not alone can be the difference between misery and happiness. Every high school kid should see this. Every parent should see this.

Just Don’t Shout it from the Rooftops showcases the bravery and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community in a deeply personal and human way. There are moments which make you laugh out loud, whilst others will bring you to tears and leave you curled up in your seat and bawling like a baby (like one very moved reviewer...). The show is concluded with a few inspirational words from Brook himself and some fantastic advice for the community in general. There’s something quite profound about Just Don’t Shout it from the Rooftops, there’s a sense of hearts reaching out to other hearts from right across the world, a web of love, support, and understanding, with Brook orchestrating these connections and acting as the mouthpiece for the guidance we wish we had the power to give one another.


Just Don’t Shout It From The Rooftops ~ [The King's Head Theatre] ~ Review
★★★★★