Review: Going Out Out at HOME

Going Out Out is a three-hander play, focused on widower Ian (James Quinn). Ian has developed severe agoraphobia since the death of his wife, and so charity-worker-slash-drag-queen Raz (Darren Kuppan) brings Ian his groceries. After a shaky start to their friendship, Ian asks Raz to help him discover the magic of drag, hoping to overcome his fear and mend his relationship with his distant daughter, Lauren (Verity Henry).

The casting of the lead is strong, with Quinn fully embodying the aging native Salfordian that is Ian. After just a few minutes on stage, you can imagine him living a lifetime with his wife, raising kids in their council house, before the glass tower blocks began to rise around him. Kuppan and Henry make decent attempts at fleshing out their roles too, but Barney Norris's script gives them little to go on, favouring unnecessary additional backstory over genuine three-dimensional character traits.  

There are hints throughout at Ian’s self-hatred, both as an individual and a father. It would have been interesting to see these uncomfortable, thorny issues explored more, especially with so few plays focusing on older characters. Unfortunately, Norris piles too much on the proverbial plate. Raz’s travel plans, family life, and Lauren’s last-minute declaration of her own sexuality aren’t nearly as compelling. They serve only to crowd out what could have been explored more deeply, namely Ian’s shame at his retreat from the world, and his grief at losing not only his wife, but (as he sees it) his children as well.  

Ian’s journey doesn’t always ring true either. Whilst you can see within him a clear desire to change his life, I’m not sure how he settles so swiftly on drag as the answer – he appears throughout as a man who would be much happier watching karaoke in the Millstone than the New Union.  

Whilst the production is not the most polished, the show undoubtedly has a heart of gold, albeit with more than a few surface flaws.