Jock Night a new play

Jock Night, by Adam Zane at Hope Mill Theatre, is the fully fledged successor to earlier tryouts – a very early one is here on youtube. It depicts and explores ChemSex in some depth, together with the ephemeral gains of working in the sex industry, and, although there are several laughs, and the actors are extremely easy on the eye, there is a very serious and tragic story here. Moths around a flame come to mind. Another analogy would be burning the candle at both ends – only here the characters take a blow torch to its middle – with the inevitable consequences.

I was unfamiliar with the argot employed for the drugs used, but a handout sheet provided enlightenment on some of them. For those who also don’t know, here they are:

• Meth, Crystal Meth, Tina (Methamphetamine)
• M-Cat, Meow Meow (Mephedrone)
• G, GHB, Gina (Gamma Hydroxybutyrate)

These, together with poppers and others, all feature as recreational drugs.

Without wishing to give too much away, or appearing judgmental, it’s hard to see how anyone could think that abusing such substances is a good idea – but the events unfolding before us made us laugh. Shame on us, but when one of the characters suffers the consequences of such abuse the laughter stopped.

Every generation mistakenly thinks it invented sex, which, sadly, is why some feel they have to push the boundaries of sexual congress with drugs to feel fulfilled. It’s a sometimes long and winding road, but usually a very downward spiral. The play as written contains gay men, but it would be very interesting to see a lesbian variant.

The play ends on a more positive note than the above might imply. We started with a threesome and we end with a slightly different one. In the beginning is the end though, and the consequences of casual sex are unfortunately here to stay.

Most performances are sold out, but Jock Nights continues until Saturday, 13th April. Go.

Published: 10-Apr-2019 (5333)