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David Drake Productions
The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me
United Kingdom
“More than another feel-good coming-out saga, this is an astutely observed commentary on urban American gay life. Funny, angry, poignant and performed with impressive physical prowess and a bucket-load of charm... David Drake positively soars. A kiss to be savoured.”
Christopher Bowen, The Guardian
Directed by: Chuck Brown
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
August, 1994
King's Head Theatre, London
September-November, 1994
“A beautifully crafted hunk of heartfelt activism in which brains and brawn are full flexed, David Drake charts a molten course through the depths and shallows of the gay male urban experience. Fresh, insightful and sometimes sensationally comic...the piece scores a near-ten on the universal identification scale. Is it possible that even homophobes might be de-programmed by seeing it?
Donald Hutera, Time Out London
“David Drake’s The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, powered by anger and defiance, faces up to animosity and argues for acceptance. It is a passionate, self-mocking confessional in which Drake portrays himself growing in America and recognising himself as gay. While lavishly dancing, rapping and mourning his AIDS-dead friends, Drake sometime overheats. But in Chuck Brown’s production there’s no missing the plea that that homosexuals may quit the closets without fear of reprisals.”
Nicholas De Jongh, Evening Standard
“David Drake delivers a double whammy: tight punchy writing, energetically played with great charm and humour. He had the audience hooked immediately. The variety of word-play and its delivery was quite brilliant. Glorious... left the audience cheering. A brilliant performance by a brilliant performer. Kissing Larry Kramer by proxy tasted all the sweeter.”
Paul M. Skorupski, The Pink Paper
“... a slick and sensational, well-acted commentary on urban gay life in America.”
Christopher Bowen, The Scotsman
“In a performance of great range... an explosive and important piece of contemporary theatre.”
Michael Ridings, Evening News
“David Drake delivers a raunchy, brutally frank tour through life of an American gay man. The script is witty, the pace vigorous, and the tone skips smartly from anger to tease in the space of a single joke. Nice buns, too.”
Sabine Durrant, The Independent
