By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 22 June, runs through 29 June 2024 RUNTIME: 70 minutes (no interval)

We’re amused by the ‘no nudity’ disclaimer in the marketing for this 2-hander about a gay sauna meet-cute.

• Read on for reasons including why we hope this heartwarming show has further life after this Pride run because it’s both funny and touching

It makes us think of the ample flesh on show but lack of emotional engagement in Afterglow, which has returned since we wrote about it with its onstage showers at the Southwark Playhouse, and Wet Feet is perhaps worth dipping in a toe if searching for its polar opposite.

Meet twink-ish Nathan who looks younger than his 24 years has rented the sauna cabin in which the action takes place which is stumbled upon when he nips out for a cigarette and a strawberry Yazoo by closeted 35-year-old Franko, who could pass for more mature, and wears a Golden Girls T-shirt and a bumbag full of cleaning products to cope with his obsessive compulsive disorder in unfamiliar surroundings.

Wet Feet is a string of conversations across a period of months in which the pair meet up regularly at Nathan’s rented sauna cabin and get to know each other a little better.

Nathan eventually coaxes Franko out of his flip-flops and into a white robe as the latter’s inhibitions lower.

The age difference between the 2 might be awkward but allows for a conversation about the Section 28 law of the 80s in which schools were not allowed to promote homosexuality that wasn’t revoked until 2003 and Nathan (played by Matthew Edgar pictured above) reflects how things were different in education after it was repealed.

Author Neri plays Franko and we learn that his homosexuality would be at odds with his religion while Nathan takes Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).

There’s a neat twist in the writing where Nathan’s initial acceptance of Franko into his cabin ‘to see how this plays out’ is turned on its head by the play’s close.

Initially we thought the pair were more likely to be friends than lovers but there is some flirting as the temperature rises and we don’t just mean in the aforementioned sauna.

This intimate venue was busy at the matinee we attended and we hope this heartwarming show has further life after this Pride run because it’s both funny and touching with a ring of authenticity.

• Main picture by Matthew Coulton via Facebook courtesy Union Theatre Tickets
• Have you seen a Union Theatre show before and what did you think of it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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