Play review - Mark Homer's 'Boxed'
By Larry Jaffee
LONDON-Of course, EastEnders fans will forever associate their favourite Albert Square characters with the actors who play them. in some cases, it might be difficult to picture them in any other role, especially for us on this side of the Atlantic, who generally don't get see EastEnders alumni in other U.K. telly productions.
Yet most actors have higher aspirations than "a mere soap opera," whether that might be film, stage or Hollywood, and I don't mean to imply that EastEnders is some lower form of drama. For better or worse, it's perceived that way in its native land.
In any case, Mark Homer is best known for his portrayal of "Tony Hills," according to the programme for his play Boxed, staged this past late spring at West London's prestigious fringe theatre Riverside Studios and his first major acting project outside of EastEnders.
In Boxed, Homer plays the former boyfriend named Chris, who abruptly pops in on his ex-girlfriend Suzie (Carolina Giammetta) six months after their relationship ended because he was unfaithful with another woman.
Chris seems to be in a bit better shape than Tony, the sexually confused, young twenty-something who eventually comes to grips with his homosexuality. But Tony's vocal inflections and occasional looks of neediness show up in Chris. Yet you never somehow picture that this is Tony trying to win back Tiffany. No, this is clearly another character, albeit hetero, with his own hangups.
Homer co-wrote Boxed with Giammetta, apparently his real-life significant other, and Ray Kilby, the play's director, who also has directed Homer in EastEnders.
Boxed received some favourable reviews. Time Out London's Patrick Marmiom called it "not the most innovative piece of theatre, but there is something likable about this two-person post-mortem on a romantic break-up."
What's On's Roger Foss called it "enjoyable" and "strikingly fresh" despite no shortage in plays about infidelity. He cited Kilby's "low-key direction and the two actors' invisible performance," keeping the audience on the edge of their seats teetering between sides."
What I especially liked about the play was Suzie not giving in to Chris' advances. And Boxed turned out to make a far more lasting impression than the primetime TV movie about a failed male/female relationship I watched that week on BBC1.
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