A fantasy of sexuality and music

This spring Newtown Theatre is taking on tight jeans, emo hairstyles and sexuality.

Half A Person: My Life As Told By The Smiths + Love & War is their latest production and is about a young man finding himself through the songs and music of the 80s.

Actor David Forster plays William, a confused and outrageous teenager. Forster says if you’re a Smiths or Morrissey fan you should bring tissues and perhaps some lube.

“Even if you’re not, be prepared to buy the back catalogue. If you’re just after sex, boys, and rock ’n’ roll – we can offer that too,” Forster says.

“It’s basically boy falls in love with girl, man falls in love with boy, girls never loves boy, man gets sick, girl dumps boy, man asks boy to consummate that love – the rest is up to your imagination.”

Despite being baffled, William also deals with his best friend’s fantasies, music obsessions and the tight revealing jeans.

“His tight jeans are just the way he gets people’s attention and the emo factor is him trying to be individual, but really he’s just angry and confused – my ass also looks great in them,” Forster said.

“He’s a very smart boy who sells himself short a lot of the time and ends up being faced with some pretty big decisions. He’s a loveable dork.”

The play was written by Alex Broun using the music of the Smiths. It is directed by Robert Chutter and is from the Fly-On-The-Wall theatre group in Melbourne.

“It’s a personal story that will affect people differently,” Forster said.

“It is definitely a story that the gay community can relate to.”

Half A Person: My Life As Told By The Smiths plays 19-29 September at the Newtown Theatre. Tickets start at $28. Bookings: www.mca-tix.com or 1300 306 776.