“Two Teabags stirs up grief, humour, and glitter into a deeply moving brew of queer identity.”
Pride is a word that holds deep meaning– for our families, our friends, our lovers, and ourselves. But for the LGBTQ+ community, it carries a particularly powerful resonance. It stands for resistance, visibility, and radical self-acceptance, and Two Teabags was the perfect way to celebrate Pride weekend in London: a joyful, unapologetic and vulnerable ode to queerness, identity, love, and connection.
Two Teabags is, at its heart, a story about coming out– and coming to terms with who you are. A one-man show written and performed by actor Colm Wynne, it follows two gay characters in search of self-love.
The first is a young gay man from Manchester, navigating the messy intersections of family, expectation, sex, and self-image as he prepares for his first-ever drag performance. He’s sleeping with older men on Grindr, mourning the recent loss of a beloved aunt (who he suspects was a closeted lesbian), and grappling with the fact that his family didn’t even tell him about her funeral until it was over. His story is full of vulnerability, grief, humour, and grace. The second character is an older man, stuck in an unhappy marriage and calling himself the “richest man in Manchester.” His journey is subtler but no less moving: a late-in-life awakening triggered by a Grindr hookup that cracks open decades of repression. At 60, he’s finally beginning to live.
In a tender twist, the hookup that changed everything for the older man was, in fact, with the younger one. Their stories converge– not in a fantastic romantic resolution, but in something gentler and more grounded. The older man makes the radical decision to leave his marriage– not just to chase a relationship, but to desperately try and honour the part of himself he’s long kept buried. Though the younger man doesn’t return his feelings, he’s deeply moved by the gesture. When the older man’s wife calls, the young man gently urges him to answer while he puts the kettle on. They’ll start with a cup of tea, and go from there. It’s a quiet, hopeful ending– one of connection, mutual care, and possibility.
Wynne’s performance is at the heart of the piece, and it’s a strong one. He takes on both men– and a few side characters, including the young man’s brother– with impressive ease. As the younger man, he is engaging, endearing, and sharply funny; as the older man, he’s heavier, world-worn, and brimming with a sort of fragile hope. They complement each other well, two sides of the same coin, and make the piece dynamic and textured.
The staging is simple and effective, set entirely in the young man’s dressing room. We’re invited into private moments– he does his makeup, grieves, remembers. Lighting and sound design support the storytelling beautifully, especially in transitions or during brief absences offstage.
A few moments felt clunky, particularly when characters spoke to offstage voices– like the imagined cast and crew after the young man’s failed drag performance. These one-sided exchanges, without visible or audible responses, momentarily disrupted the immersive flow of the show. Similarly, the final conversation between the two men, while emotionally rich, began to drag. The rapid character-switching that had felt skillful earlier in the play became a bit of a distraction, interfering with the emotional weight of the scene. But these are small bumps in an otherwise thoughtful, moving, and beautifully performed piece. Two Teabags is the kind of show queer audiences will recognise and feel seen by– and the kind straight audiences would do well to witness. Gentle, riotous, funny, and gloriously gay– it’s a true celebration of identity, love, and Pride.