A review by aesopsdaddy
The Chemsex Monologues by Patrick Cash

4.0

In these four interconnected monologues, Cash leaves moralisation at the door and tackles one of the most important issues in the LGBTQ+ community with empathy and nuance: namely, or namelessly as will become apparent if read, chemsex addiction. Just logging into Grindr, one can receive multiple messages asking if you’re “HnH?” (High and horny) and wanting to join a chemsex chillout party, but this ‘underground’ activity is seldom written about in queer literature. I’ve tried most things, but never quite understood the connection between drug use (particularly of meth and G) and sex so rampant in the gay community. However, I have witnessed first-hand friends who have become victims to the narcotic downward spiral Cash heartbreakingly and tenderly traces across these monologues. I’m therefore grateful for the playwright’s sensitive consideration of the (potential) causes; his exploration of settings and milieus, such as London’s saunas and sex clubs, that encourage such interdependencies; as well as his non-judgemental attention to certain behavioural reinforcements we should all be wary of.

I wasn’t expecting the writing to be this beautiful or for there to be such an undercurrent of humour throughout what is such troubling subject matter. Each monologue looks from a different angle at the chemsex phenomenon through a small group of linked characters (fag hags, porn stars, ‘scene gays’ and sexual health outreach workers, for example), with each piece reaching a height of pathos and poetry which will linger in my bloodstream for quite some time.