Gay Camberwell

I have no idea why the Oval House Theatre has such a consistently gay-themed programme, but it’s a bonus for us Gay Camberwellians – a mere 5 minute cycle last week brought us to the double bill of Lobster and Vantastic, two one act plays examining the concept of living in a confined space. Both were very interesting, but ultimately rather depressing. Pleasingly in both, the gay characters were portrayed in a very matter of fact way. So often in plays, if there is a gay character I find that there has to be a big issue around homophobia, or self identity angst, or coming out, or suchlike. In both these plays, the characters simply happened to be gay. That said, the plays both had quite enough issues taking centre stage: incestuous relationships with granny, for instance… kidnapping… elderly masochism… gratuitously bizarre, but while they didn’t make for comfortable viewing, they were well written, well acted, and in particular made good use of the Oval House’s two theatre spaces. With a welcome break in the rather pleasant bar in between shows. It’s a shame the Oval House isn’t nearer the centre of Camberwell: it’s definitely a bar I’d drink in regularly.

Speaking of which, Grand Union has become just that. I can’t seem to get out of the place, probably due to the excellent mohitos. I popped in for a post-work hot chocolate on Friday night with a couple of my work friends, and it was just the right mixture of cool and cosy (and festive – their Christmas tree has just gone up) for comfortable chat. But really I hankered after a mohito… Later that night, Roz and I cycled over to the V&A Museum, where they were having a gay night as part of their Friday Lates series. We arrived to find a colourful drag queen in the foyer proclaiming very loudly and repeatedly “I am a tranny!” Clearly this was to be a queer performance art extravaganza. Indeed, Camberwell’s very own Michael Twaits did a monologue, and there were all manner of intriguing queer arty performances lurking in various galleries around the museum. I joined in David Hoyle’s art class, where I spent a cheery half hour learning about the surrounding sculptures and under instruction, producing increasingly ridiculous drawings in the company of about 20 other ‘artists’ and a very colourful David. It made me very reminiscent of teenage late nights at my equally closeted male friend’s house in darkest suburban Scotland, secretively watching The Divine David on TV…

And of course after that, we cycled back to Camberwell and straight into Grand Union where a very pleasant woman who may have been the manager produced mohito after mohito with pleasure and efficiency, delivering them to our table and even giving us a free one in a very appealing manner. We stayed into the wee hours before tipsily wheeling our bikes home. Hooray for this excellent addition to SE5.

Yesterday we cycled north, to sample the Christmas church fetes of Hackney, and a brilliant Christmas craft market in the crypt of St Pancras Church (randomly, this seemed to be organised by a Peckham group). If only St Giles crypt had more events like that! Later on, we headed northwest on a very rare excursion to Notting Hill to sample the famed delights of Book Slam in the Tabernacle. I had previously failed to take advantage of the efficiency of the 148 bus that zooms straight from Camberwell to Notting Hill, but it’s just as fast (or just as slow) as the bus/tube combo, and took about 45 minutes. Book Slam was absolutely brilliant. Yet again, come on, St Giles crypt – this sort of event would work so well there, and it was extremely popular… Lots of performance poetry, readings by Lionel Shriver, a choir and random goings ons (and food!). We had a brilliant night, though conceded that Notting Hill is a creepy place full of very rich people who made me feel I must have plucked my evening’s outfit from a rubbish heap… though they did have lots of nice cinemas and coffeeshops…