Paul T Davies reviews Bakla now playing at Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.
Bakla
Summerhall, Edinburgh Fringe
5 Stars
Bakla is a derogatory Tagalog, language from the Philippines, name for a homosexual man. We in the West have many equivalent terms. What Max Percy does in his extraordinary work is show us the deep connections between three hundred years of Spanish colonial rule and the racist attitudes that persist to this day. He uses his body to expose how sexuality is constructed and imposed on his body by colonialism and patriarchy.
His physicality is astonishing, dancing, acrobatic work, teasing. What is refreshing is that he knows his history and his context within the tropes imposed on him. He also combined this with the loosing of his virginity. Without giving any spoilers, we see how an image of the available young boy is literally imposed on him. The fractured first half is brought together towards a stunning climax .
If all this sounds a little heavy, there is much humour. He flirts with and teases his audience, knowing exactly what he is doing, and inviting a questioning gaze. The best physical theatre piece I've seen so far, it deserves a bigger audience and I urge you to catch this quite special piece
Paul is a playwright, director, actor, academic, (he has a PhD from the University of East Anglia), teacher and theatre reviewer! His plays include Living with Luke, (UK tour 2016), Play Something, (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/Drayton Arms Theatre, London 2018), , (2019), and now The Miner’s Crow, which won the inaugural Artist’s Pick of the Fringe Award at the first ever Colchester Fringe Festival 2021. In lockdown 2020 he created the audio series Isolation Alan, available on Youtube, and performed online in the Voice Box Festival. He is the founder member of Stage Write, a Colchester based theatre company, and his acting roles include Rupert in How We Love by Annette Brook, first performed at the Vaults Festival 2020 and revived at the Arcola and at Theatre Peckham in 2021. Follow: @stagewrite_
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