Toxic (touring) ★★

At this point of history, when LGBTQ+ communities feel under attack from so many quarters, it is vital that queer voices are heard. Nathaniel J Hall, as a theatre-maker, writer and HIV activist, has leant his voice and creative platforms to community-led advocacy, championing a society where LGBTQ+ people can live authentically and with pride. As artistic director of Dibby Theatre, he has provided admirable outreach channels to help people tell their own stories as well as highlighting networks and charities who provide support across a range of LGBTQ+ issues.

With his latest touring project, Toxic, of which he is both writer and performer, Hall aims to explore how, despite the seeming successes of the Pride movement, many queer people still battle societal shame and stigma every day.

Toxic centres on two people and, as the audience is told directly at the start, this is the story how they “met, fell in love and fucked it up”. Addressing the audience, we are told these characters don’t have names – but for the purposes of the show they will be called The Playwright (Hall) and The Performer (Josh-Susan Enright). Presumably this is to increase the universality of their story, but in fact it does the opposite. It begins to erode the specificity of their identities. Toxic is both semi-autobiographical for Hall but also the product of queer creative workshops in which other LGBTQ+ people shared their lived experiences which fed into the story. But this creates an issue with the narrative core: in trying to make the two characters relatable, in trying to be everybody, they never quite feel truly like anyone.

Topics such as generational homophobia, internalised and societal shame, racism, pronouns and gender norms, sexual, emotional and physical abuse are raised. Given the running time of roughly 80 minutes, it’s hard to make such weighty subjects land. As we jump through the various key moments of the couple’s relationship, the storytelling feels more televisual than theatrical.

There are moments of staging that elevate the piece. Dee Dixon‘s video projections of the pair’s text flirting, emojis and all, are wittily enganging. SHAR‘s sound designs with Aelien Brouwers and Lizard Morris‘s movement direction provide music and dance interludes that fuel some energy into the piece.

Playing the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s main auditorium can prove challenging to touring productions. With seating in the round, Toxic’s set – a torn cross-section of their home on a platform – looks stranded and distant. Given that much of the drama is domestic, Toxic needs an intimacy with its audience. Points where club culture is evoked felt awkward and unconvincing in the space. Both Hall and Enright’s acting styles were unfortunately underpowered to fill an auditorium of that size and make that necessary strong emotional connection with their audience. Rather being fired up by what is clearly a heartfelt piece, the sense of distance from what was happening made us onlookers rather than partipants.