Paul T Davies reviews Blow Hole written and performed by Benjamin Salmon playing at the Pleasance Dome as part of the Edinburgh Fringe.
Photo: Darren Bell Blow Hole
Pleasance Dome
10 August 2023
3 Stars
Having seen as many LGBTQ plays as I have, especially gay plays, there is now a firm narrative for the plight of the modern homosexual. The perils of online dating, looking for romance in a technology-driven world, urban isolation, (usually in London), and the presence of Chemsex. All these elements are there in Benjamin Salmon's script and performance.
Photo: Darren Bell
Salmon has created engaging characters and his fixed smile really points towards the despair of modern life. He works on the reception of a yoga studio, and there are plenty of gags about the healthy lifestyle with owner Star being a string satirical creation. It's also performed on a wonderful, compact set. But it is a story I feel I've seen many times.
Although it adds little to the genre, Blow Hole is a pleasant hour in the company of good acting.
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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