It’s Wednesday afternoon, in Manchester. I’m fresh from the office, taking a late lunch to catch a matinee show described as a love letter to Birmingham, exploring Black masculinity through Beyoncé lyrics, techno raves and the deeply intimate relationship between a man and his barber.

And I already know this particular lunch break is going to be giving me life and energy like no meal deal ever could.

Nathaniel is a serious romantic who sees love as a fine art. He’s looking for the Mona Lisa to his da Vinci, and tonight is the night: his date with Destiny…’s Child.  

BULLRING TECHNO MAKEOUT JAMZ is Nathan Queeley-Dennis’ debut play . Directed by Dermot Daly, the show was a huge hit during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023 and subsequently opened in London to rave reviews.

But what do writer and performer Nathan Queeley-Dennis, the show Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz and my good self have in common?

None of us are from Manchester, yet to be here feels like home.

Says Nathan,

I’m thrilled to bring BULLRING TECHNO MAKEOUT JAMZ to the Royal Exchange Theatre. Our journey began here with the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2022. Though I’m not from Manchester, this feels like a homecoming for the play. An extract was performed at the ceremony, and the feeling in the room was electric, you could really feel it living in the space. I’ll never forget that moment or feeling, and I can’t wait to bring that electricity back to that room, bringing the 0121 to the 0161.

Well I’m thrilled too, Nathan, as your show is high on laughs, high on energy, high on Beyoncé lyrical content. And then, we go deep.

But before we go there, we go back to Bey. Nathaniel’s date, that is who describes herself as the Beyoncé of the Black Country. But can he be her Jay-Z?

Perhaps. But at the end of it all, he’s looking for that special person who, in 10 years, will still be there, by his side, arguing over flat packs in Ikea.

But in Nathaniel’s pursuit of this, we’re taken on a journey through some relatable life struggles and concerns. For instance, when your barber is on holiday, a holiday that is 18 weeks that is (that’s four and a half month’s pregnant!), a barber that you’ve grown an affinity with, a bond, how do you navigate not only finding someone else to touch your head, but shake off the feeling that you’re cheating?

We’re invited into his call centre world of work, not quite what he had in mind after getting his degree in fine art (but this doesn’t pay the Bills Bills Bills)and his relationship with his colleague/mon-fri confidante and brother in arms (and possessor of a music degree). His outside work band of brothers WhatsApp chats, as they intersperse the show heralded by that oh so familiar notification noise and a stage illuminated in green.

They’re there for when barber love goes wrong, ‘Beyoncé’ first dates fall through, and finding their brand of black, brotherly love as they post their black love heart emojis.

And as Nathaniel finally appears to find his destiny Kelly (choosing her over dogfluencer Michelle – you getting a sense of a Destiny’s Child thread running through this narrative yet), with her art degree, shared love of rum and guilty pleasure of techno appreciation of who he is and what he needs…well, let’s says life throws up curveball after curveball and it is at that point in the show we reach a crescendo of what we’ve slowly been leading upto through the jokes, the banter, the one-liners, the light-hearted life observations and commentary.

This is a man who is experiencing a life he didn’t quite ask for, happy on the outside but yet to find happiness and contentment on the inside.

And whilst he serial dates his way to a hopeful love match and life partner, we see that he already has a love from the men in his life, right up until that moving voicemail right at the end from unexpected source but main man in his life, his father.

Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz, like its title, is a mash-up of genres and concepts – observational comedy and stand-up, monologue and life commentary, ode to both Destiny’s Child and Techno, a fine piece of rapping and understated examination of finding out where you fit and where and how expressions of love can be found in the most unexpected places.

And you know what? Just like the title eventually did to me as the show went on? It all came together to make sense.

To discover more about Nathan Queeley-Dennis, Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz and future tour dates, visit https://painesplough.com/productions/bullring-techno-makeout-jamz/

To discover what else is coming up in the Autumn/Winter season at Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, visit https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-manchester/

Main image credit – Rebecca Need-Menear

Production images credit – Mihaela Bodlovic