Anna Burnside reviews ‘a really accomplished show’.
The first sign that Guy Branum’s style is abrasive comes early in the show. An exhaustive list of fruits is projected on the wall behind him. The audience can choose four for him to roast.
Never before has a fig had such a hard time.
Then it’s the audience’s turn to confront three letter words beginning with F. With some coaxing, he gets a couple of young, slur-averse people to tell him that’s he’s fat. And a fag.
Be Fruitful’s theme is that, on an evolutionary level, gay men are redundant and it’s ironic that they used to be referred to as fruits. Although, as fruit is juicy, sour and can kill a diabetic, there are some parallels.
He allows the audience no hiding place. At one particularly sweaty moment the lights go up, ostensibly to identify the second fattest person in the room.
There are also a few well-judged “awwww” moments, underlined by giving someone in the front row a prompt sign to hold up at appropriate moments. Branum knows what he’s doing.
Be Fruitful is a really accomplished show, with ideas woven through the personal anecdotes and crowd work that makes it look as if the fig got off lightly. At one point he claims that gay men are bad at making art about their own lives. This show proves him wrong.
Guy Branum: Be Fruitful performs at Gilded Balloon Teviot (Billiard Room) at 20:30 (60 min) until 31 August 2026. For further details, go to the production website.
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