Mayfest 2022 Review: Birthmarked, Bristol Old Vic – ‘Beautifully human’

Sometimes you see a show so moving that you don’t know how to talk about it. Here, with this rare and extraordinary beast, I wept.

Brook Tate is underwater. He kissed a man, then did more than kiss him. His confidants refused to keep his secret, and so, as a devout Jehovah’s Witness from birth, he was disfellowshipped.

Deep under the sea (the show is surreal, but in such a human way that it feels like reality), Tate meets Gale, a whale. He is scared of being swallowed like Jonah. But in Gale he finds someone to tell his story to, someone with whom there is a connection of kinship strength. And eventually, he lets himself be swallowed.

Brook Tate in Birthmarked, Bristol Old Vic, as part of Mayfest 2022 – photo: Paul Blakemore

A quiet, haunting song sung acapella by Tate begins this piece of gig theatre. Then, with a full band, the music blossoms into full-bodied arrangements delivered with enormous talent. Eddie Benfield’s fiddle playing has a full, warm tone and Junior Nascimento shows enormous skill on the trumpet.

Tom Bonson, Samuel Fox and Eva Redman are also excellent (and it is great to see a drum kit played by a woman for once). Tate’s vocals are delicate and melodious, but with the capacity to rise into full, sexy roar. He reminds me of Freddie Mercury. I imagine he would be delighted.

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Yet the progression to Freddie is slow. Tate begins the show quiet and self-correcting. He and his band are dressed in muted grey suits and lit in monochrome. But when he takes the leap into the belly of the whale, there is a step change – and an outfit change.

The suits are replaced by sexy, skintight black leotards showing a good degree of chest. Tate acquires chunky high heals and discovers that his new outfit has tremendous flairs at the ankles. His vocals become stronger, his style bolder and self-assured.

The relationship between Gale and Tate is tender and startlingly real. They speak as though they don’t know what the other will say next, and indeed in this semi-improvised show this is often the case.

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Brook Tate in Birthmarked – photo: Paul Blakemore

At the bar after the show, musician Eva Redman (Gale) told me that she has no idea how to act so she just spoke her lines as herself. I’m so glad she did. The result is a deeply human portrayal. It seems to be grounded in reality because, like the rest of the show, it is.

In Birthmarked, Tate tells a true story. There really is a man called Brook Tate and he really is a disfellowshipped Jehovah’s Witness. Brook Tate – the real Brook Tate – is the man standing on stage telling his story.

The blurring between a piece of theatre and a real event of reunion and family sharing happening in front of the audience’s eyes was extraordinary.

There are eight performances of Birthmarked scheduled. Only eight. There should be more, though I wonder whether it would be able to sustain its freshness with a longer run. It is such a personally created show, night on night.

So my advice to the reader is to see it now, in this limited run, at this moment in time when it is still new. Because it is an extraordinary show, and Brook Tate is an extraordinary man.

Brook Tate in Birthmarked – photo: Paul Blakemore

Birthmarked is at Bristol Old Vic from May 13-21 at 7.30pm, with a 3pm matinee show on May 21. Tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk. The show is running as part of Mayfest. For more information about the festival programme and ticket links to all shows, visit www.mayk.org.uk/mayfest-programme.

Main photo: Paul Blakemore

Read more: Programme revealed for Mayfest 2022

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