DV8 Until Saturday May 11th at 9.00pm. Matinee saturday only at 4.pm
Dan Ireland Reeves storms back into Dublin with his charm and storytelling gifts that bring us behind the scenes of the West End Sauna in Manchester. Covid forced many a starving actor to seek new employment and ‘Danny boy’ rapidly rises up the managerial chain in the run-down sauna a pillar of gay life in Manchester for 21 years.
We meet a myriad of the characters who find the sauna essential for their social lives. Dan moves seemlessly between the older, younger and drag clientele with such skill that not only do we get to know them, but like them. The physical activities of the darkened sauna are exposed with fun and frankness in Reeves-Ireland explicit narrative. We get to experience the highs and lows, the emotions and the exhaustion of the hectic life that engulfs the clientele and staff of this late-night employment.
“Danny Boy” has a clear respect for his customers, and a rapport with his fellow staff despite the neurosis of the aging owner. There is tie for lust and love and ‘Danny Boy’ makes a lasting use of his experiences not just by improving the business but in investing the stories in his latest artistic output.
He is an accomplished story-teller that knows and loves his subjects – and thanks to Ireland-Reeves we get to know and love some too! GF
