On-stage evolution of a Gen Z gay romance is smart, funny and heartfelt

Boyfriends at The Cube, Project Arts Centre, Dublin until July 6 then An Grianán, Letterkenny from July 11–13

Ultan Pringle and Emmanuel Okoye in Boyfriends. Photo: Owen Clarke

Katy Hayes

Ultan Pringle’s new play is a ­charming slice of life, dealing with a pair of young gay men seeking romance. Writer Guy meets Civil Service Guy at a club (we get neither of the characters’ names). They move in together at the writer’s Camden Street flat. The flat is also inhabited by a dog called Marshmallow, neatly rendered as a remote controlled pooch, who trundles about the stage with a mind of its own.

Writer Guy is winningly played by Pringle himself, a sweet-hearted man struggling to come to terms with the death of his beloved brother in a Donegal road crash. Civil Service Guy, in Emmanuel Okoye’s assured performance, is a party-boy, whose cockiness masks a deep sense of being unlovable.