Revu It’s a Struggle Coming Out

“It’s A Struggle Coming Out” Poster

A tongue and cheek queer epic

It’s A Struggle Coming Out is an ambitious hour of madness is the best way possible. It is a production positively bursting with creativity and energy and that is felt in every actor, every scene and every line.

Em, is a member of the Pure Four, a group of Christian girls getting ready for an Evangelicalist debutante ball. Their pastor has tasked them all with converting others to Christianity in order to help fund the ball and the church. The one hitch is that Em might be a lesbian and might have fallen in love with a culture rebellious vampire.

It is a wonderfully absurd premise, that is both fun and filled with metaphor about the LGBT community and experience, and despite its camp and comical nature, it never feels too outwardly heavy handed or played out. 

There is some excellent comedy here. A fantastic physical gag with two of the vampires having to carry each other when turning into bats, a man in a red morph suit who has to roll around on the floor pretending to be blood and in 2026, an unexpected hilarious joke about a certain former Subway mascot. The highlight of the comedy is the pastor, who is comically corrupt and evil, but played so sincerely that he is a joy to watch every time he comes on stage.

It’s A Struggle Coming Out is an epic, with a large cast and multiple plotlines and locations. Em is on her journey of self discovery with a vampire, while each other member of the Pure Four have their own plotlines: one of them tries to convert a Jewish man, another tries to convert inmates in a prison and the final is spying on them all. And that is not to mention the vampires and their story as well. There is a lot going on, and for only an hour, perhaps too much. This production feels like it would benefit immensely from being an hour and a half or even just an hour and ten minutes. A few extra scenes would really let this production breathe, as currently it feels too overstuffed and can be hard to follow.

However, this is a production for anyone looking for a good time. It is a genuine spectacle. A production with too many ideas but better that over one with too few.

Tickets can be found here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/it-s-a-struggle-coming-out

3.5/5 Stars

By Ethan H.M.M