home | downloads | scene listings | non-scene listings | links | advertising details | contact us |
Click here for the graphic version of this page
It’s a harmless trivial pursuit to play the game of deciding what drink, pet, fashion accessories, or house plant might be associated with having a gay sensitivity. We all know that the club’n’pub culture is an integral part of the scene for the young and beautiful but perhaps we ought to look beyond this ambience to include a wider, older more mature gay audience?
Stately queens in designer cardies as well as less flamboyant souls might well prefer to be seen and to hold court in the more traditionally English surroundings of the café. No, not the truckers’ greasy spoon - unless butch drivers are your fetish - but the more genteel surrounds of a tea shop. Here it is possible to gossip, deliver acerbic one-line putdowns with a certain sense of class. Sybaritic hedonists can enjoy the delights of loaded cake trolley and refreshing teas from delicate Earl Grey, quality Darjeeling to the smokey sophistication of Lapsang Suchong. The after effects may not be as serious as too much alcohol and exotic herbal indulgences.
Here, up north, there are stylish places to try out being a tea-shop diva. Doyenne amongst these establishments has to be Betty’s of course with branches in Harrogate, Ilkley and York. These are a chic return to the 1930s- respectful service offering cream filled fancies, oozing chocolate éclairs, a plethora of lightly whipped sponge cakes, fondant icing and cherries place suggestively on meringues! More robust souls can go for tasteful sandwiches without the crusts, toasties and salads. Wine buffs have nothing on those snobs who insist on their tea and coffee coming from an obscure hillside in Ethiopia, Java or Himalayan slopes.
Art lovers can delight in the Rennie Mackintosh atmosphere of the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow. Nearer to Shout!’s catchment area, the flower shows at Tatton and Southport over the summer offer appropriate refreshment stops. The lounge of the Queen’s Hotel in Leeds says it all. Buxton in the Peak District offers a competitor for Betty’s - the Pavilion Park Conservatory and No. 6 The Square across the road from the Opera House are possible comfortable resting places after enjoying the festival. Here, Derbyshire cream teas - jam, scones and cream - are a specialty to savour.
Tea shops offer a safe environment with no chance of being upstaged by ‘young folk’. Here you are with the confident middle aged. No problem with arguing with bouncers over a dress code and homophobia is a remote threat. Yes, cholesterol, carbohydrates, saturated fats are evil but hey, moderation in all things. Think Lady Bracknall and Miss Marple as acknowledged leaders for camp, afternoon tea, gossip and bitchiness. Go, Girls!
It might be appropriate for a visit to the cinema for a relaxing matinee performance. A suitable choice might be Last Chance Harvey. This is a gentle, predictable romance giving Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson space to show off old-style acting skills finely honed a la RADA. Harvey Shine (Hoffman), a jingles composer from New York, is in London for his daughter’s wedding. In a traumatic day he loses his job, misses his return flight and meets 40-something Kate (Thompson) who buttonholes passengers at Heathrow to fill in questionnaires. They walk, talk and dance, sharing in the experience of lacking a relationship. Harvey is divorced and emotionally alienated from his family and Kate has to consider care for an obsessive mother who rings every other minute. Somehow they hit it off or at least seem to want to continue in dialogue as the credits roll. Serendipity is still a powerful factor in bringing disparate individuals together. So there is hope for us all. This is a surprisingly classy, feel-good movie. Take your mother along and it will convince her that you too will meet a nice girl one day. It buys you time!
An alternative might be to indulge in mocking fantasy movies and enjoy, perversely, a ‘bad’ film If you enjoy the recent, anachronistically challenged version of Robin Hood on TV, and found Lord of the Rings just a bit too long and pretentious you might want to take a quick glance at Krod Mandoon on BBC 2. It’s a send up of fantasy adventures with a mixture of Shrek, an evil eye, an evil megalomaniac wannabe ruler of the universe, plenty of clashing swords, some of which light up and gloomy dungeon scenes and freaks of nature. It stars Sean Maguire - a tasty hero with fabulous pecs, skin tight breeches, a lovely smile and American accent. Matt Lucas offers dripping malevolence as Chancellor Dongolar as a villain to boo. This could have been a sharp anti-hero series but does lack a sense of real purpose and commitment. The jokes are limp. There is a mincing, lisping, camp gay character, the lover of a macho general - a throw back to 60s media stereotypes but probably instantly forgettable. But you can have a good moan over the macaroons and best Ceylon pekoe tips as you sacrifice champagne and cocktails for something cheaper, hotter and refreshing.
Nick Tyldesley
Stories from the magazine this month:
Related pages:
Click here for the graphic version of this page
home | downloads | scene listings | non-scene listings | links | advertising details | contact us |
visitors since 1 Aug 03