Set in the 1950s, a time of fear and open prejudice against homosexuality, the BBC debates whether it should even acknowledge the subject. If we mention it, do we legitimise it? Drawing on transcripts from the era of the Wolfenden Report, the programme captures an institution terrified of moral collapse. The documentary may be made, but the BBC does not have to broadcast it.
Writer Stephen M Hornby grounds the piece in sharp, restrained dialogue, while historical adviser Marcus Collins ensures the language, attitudes and arguments feel chillingly authentic. This authenticity is reinforced by the spare but evocative set, period props and stark lighting, which together evoke the institutional coldness of the BBC and the claustrophobia of the era.
At the centre is Tom, a fictional 19-year-old navigating work, desire and survival in a hostile world. Played with striking warmth by Mitchell Wilson, Tom becomes a lens on the damage caused by repression. We see the thrill of flirtation in his tailoring job, followed by the brutal snap back to fear when a colleague is arrested and publicly shamed.
Humour briefly punctures the darkness, masking a cruel undertone. Andrew Pollard dons a wig and handbag, climbs onto a BBC desk and delivers a chilling parody of a Mary Whitehouse-style protestor, declaring that homosexuality is like acne, something most people grow out of, but if scratched, it leaves scars. The laughter lands uneasily, because the harm behind the words is unmistakable.
Tom's journey moves from secrecy and guilt to fleeting connection and love that cannot be named. He finds moments of belonging, then loses them to fear. Trigger warning: the BBC documentary finally plays, speaking of conversion therapy and homosexuality as a disease. Tom listens, visibly breaking down, struggling with the idea that normality means marriage, children and a life he cannot inhabit.
As the lights go down and the applause grows louder at the intimate Cinema Museum, Mitchell Wilson is still in tears, breathing heavily, the emotion raw and unresolved. Speaking afterwards, he explained that he does not simply deliver the lines, he feels the weight of Tom's pain, drawing on his own experiences of heartbreak and adolescence and despite this being a historic play, Tom's story could have been written today.
This is a powerful piece of theatre, meticulously crafted and profoundly felt, and Mitchell Wilson is a young actor of real depth.
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Review: Kay Johal