Raw and deeply emotional, Belvoir St Theatre’s Holding the Man speaks to those who lived the AIDS crisis in a beautifully human way.

Tim and John are two high school boys in love in 1970s Australia. Life is pretty dreamy. But when they both test positive to a new, strange disease called HIV 10 years later, everything changes.

Tommy Murphy’s 2006 adaptation of Tim Conigrave’s memoir of two men’s love and loss is a powerful piece. Every person involved in telling and retelling this story – Conigrave and Murphy in their writing, director Eamon Flack, leads Danny Ball and Tom Conroy as John and Tim respectively – give a piece of themselves over to make every moment, from teenage goofing around to complex grief, is feel ultra real.

Flack’s direction and the exceptional work of set designer Stephen Curtis, lighting designer Phoebe Pilcher and composer/sound designer Alyx Dennison lure you into a bright and sunny world of teenage hormones, lust and love. 1960s homophobia is mostly drowned out by John and Tim’s playful eagerness to work out what it means to be gay together, though of course it is a constant theme. The orange set, fitted with mismatched, colourful lounges, the warm yellow lighting and cheery music really makes it seem like everything might be okay. Then comes the 1980s, and a palpable shift comes across the stage. The lights are starker, the music has an edge to it. The set keeps its colour but the characters lose theirs.

Mirroring this effect, Ball and Conroy display immense range in their depiction of John and Tim through the years. Their chemistry as a pair is off the charts, their love incredibly moving and their anger and pain even more so. Shannen Alyce Quan gives a memorable performance as Tim’s ultimate wingwoman and steadfast friend, and Rebecca Massey flies around the stage becoming a million characters, somehow pulling each and every one of them off with aplomb and applause.

The beauty of Holding the Man, and stories like it, is its ability to show us how in dark periods of history, people found and made their own light – they loved, they laughed, they persevered, despite and even because of the tragedy around them. They ensure that those who lost their lives aren’t reduced to simply a statistic, those that experienced hate and discrimination also felt love, and who felt hopeless and scared, have their stories live on.

Purchase your ticket to Holding the Man here.

Verdelho | Wine Pairing

Verdelho is a beautiful white varietal, generous in body, flavour and its ability to age. The sweet flavours notes are reminiscent of table wines of the 1960s, while still being a dry enough wine to satisfy in 2024.

Holding the Man, Belvoir St Theatre Co. | Tasting Notes

Aussie Season	9 Mar – 14 Apr 2024
Ticket $	$52-95
Writer	Memoir by Tim Conigrave, stage adaptation by Tommy Murphy
Director	Eamon Flack
Theatre Type & Genre	Memoir
See it if you like	Coming of age stories
Wine Pairing	Verdelho
Criteria for Wine Pairing	medium-full body, floral and citrus flavours