Gay Camberwell

by Roz

As regular readers will know, Layla and I are seeking to buy a new home.  I have been intrigued, over the months, to see that many north London friends have (with varying degrees of tact) sought to steer us towards Oval, Kennington, Brixton and Stockwell.  All fine places (though obviously no Camberwell!) but of course their recommendation, from the perspective of foreigners from over the river, is their tubes.  The curious thing about that being that, when visiting the north, I’ve found myself walking 20 minutes or more to an area “on the tube” – whilst, of course, whichever part of Camberwell you are in a 20 minute walk will take you to a tube (should you be rash enough to want one when you could cycle or bus it!). 

Of course we aren’t going to be so rash as to be tempted by the lure of Oval, Kennington, Brixton or Stockwell.  But I must confess Oval does have one great attraction for me – its theatre.  Without much fanfare from the gay press or the gay world, so far as I’ve noticed, the Oval House Theatre’s programming has become distinctly gay.  There last Saturday for the last night of the very wonderful (and sold out) one-man show Mother / Son, I studied the summer season’s programme and realised that everything that they are showing at the moment has a gay theme.  Where, in my view, Oval House Theatre really is a boon for south London is the imagination and thoughtfulness of the work produced there.  In contrast to the Drill Hall (at which, I should say, I have had some very pleasant evenings), the Oval House seems to seek out cutting-edge and innovative theatre – which is why so much of their work either comes from, or goes, to places like Queer Up North and the Here arts center in NYC.  

A virtue of the Oval House Theatre is that they innovate without descending into pretentiousness.  Which is more than can be said, alas, for the much vaunted Electric Hotel which is currently running at a Victorian gas works in King’s Cross.  It’s a superb venue and a superb concept for a piece.  But it also turned out to be very dull and immensely smug.  This will teach us not to be so rash as to venture over the river on a Saturday night… 


Finally, it's worth mentioning a new pizza restaurant on the road to Oval (attached to the Union Tavern)opened in May - Pizza Lenuccia.  And, of course, this week the Blue Elephant theatre is taken over by storytelling and it's definitely worth going along one night (on Friday Layla will be telling the tale of her first lesbian date!).