Dumbledore Is So Gay review: A funny and touching story that delivers maximum heart

Robert Holtom’s VAULT Festival Origins Award winner transfers to Southwark Playhouse via The Pleasance theatre with a few disclaimers. It may be called Dumbledore Is So Gay but it isn’t set in, nor does it feature characters from, J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. Likewise it isn’t sanctioned or endorsed by Rowling or anyone associated with the franchise.

That’s fine with us. Rowling’s views on trans rights make us uncomfortable endorsing her these days. Plus there are already plenty of Harry Potter books, films and, of course, the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage story.

Holtom’s play isn’t about Harry or Ron or Hermoine or Newt Scamander or indeed Dumbledore. It’s a coming-of-age tale about 12-year-old Jack, a Potter obsessive who’s crushing on his best friend Ollie, and his journey through adolescence as he navigates sexual awakening, homophobia and prejudiced parents. When it all threatens to overwhelm him, he performs his own bit of wizardry – travelling back in time in a bid to make his journey a happier one.

References to the Potterverse abound. Jack uses a Time-Turner, as featured in The Prisoner of Azkaban. An online quiz has sorted him as a Hufflepuff aka Huffletwat, which he’s not thrilled about. His Patronus is an equally disappointing hedgehog. Dumbledore’s coming out is treated as an inspirational event. And one fed-up character remarks: “Life is as boring as the first half of The Order of the Phoenix.”

But you don’t have to be a Potterhead to enjoy what amounts to a funny and touching story about growing up gay. It’s a bit short at 70 minutes and is played out on a mostly bare stage with a few boxes for props and clever lighting and music. But this minimalist production delivers maximum heart, thanks in no small part to Alex Britt.

A rising star if ever there was one, he was physically naked in F**king Men and he’s emotionally so here. As convincing as a 12-year-old geek as he is as an 18-year-old scene queen, Britt is endearing throughout. His Jack kisses a girl and he doesn’t like it. He kisses a boy and he loves it. He finds dance floor euphoria in G-A-Y in Heaven, even though it’s “where smiles go to die”, and friendlier vibes at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. 

Multiple other characters are played by Charlotte Dowding and Martin Sarreal. Their ability to convincingly flit from one person to another countless times, often within a matter of seconds, is phenomenal. 

Holtom has penned a play about role models and friendship, queerness in all its forms and the bravery of speaking truth in the face of hatred. Like Beautiful Thing before it, it ends on a note of optimism that’s a gift to young audiences. And its message that it’s better to face the future as an adventure, instead of trying to change the past, is a wise one.

Dumbledore Is So Gay is at Southwark Playhouse, London, until 23 March. Get tickets here