Will Young takes center stage as a gay man dealing with grief in ‘Song From Far Away’

The rundown:

The world premiere of the Brokeback Mountain play is not the only reason to head to London this summer. British pop singer Will Young is treading the boards in his most ambitious acting role yet.

Whereas other reality TV show winners have been quickly forgotten, Young continues to enjoy an entertainment career just over 20 years since he won the UK show Pop Idol (a Simon Cowell-led precursor to American Idol).

This is not only down to an impressive back catalogue of hits. A large number of people still regard him with affection. Young never seemed cocky or arrogant about his talent, and always grateful for the opportunities afforded to him.

He was forced to come out as gay by a tabloid newspaper within weeks of his winning Pop Idol: shoddy treatment that won him sympathy. Revealing his sexuality clearly failed to dent his career. He’s since gone on to talk about internalized homophobia, and his own mental health battles. He’s written books, including How To Be A Gay Man, and The A-Z of Wellbeing.

Besides the books, Young’s diversified his portfolio in other ways. Most notably acting. He appeared alongside Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins in the movie Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), and on stage in The Vortex and Cabaret. The latter earned him a Laurence Olivier Acting award nomination in 2013 (the British equivalent of a Tony).

The said, Young’s acting forays have remained frustratingly sparse. Now he takes center stage in a piece that rests squarely on his shoulders.

No Tea, No Shade:

Song From Far Away, by Simon Stephens and Mark Eitzel (of the cult band American Music Club), is an 85-minute, one-man monolgue now playing at The Hampstead Theatre in North London. Its transfer to the UK capital follows a successful run earlier this year in Manchester.

Young plays Willem, a Dutch hedge fund manager who lives in New York. The story unfolds in a series of letters he is addressing to his late brother, who has died suddenly and unexpectedly.

His brother’s death forces Willem to board a flight home to Amsterdam. He has distanced himself from both his homeland and the family he left behind. The death of his brother forces him to attempt to reconnect with his family and his roots. Willem writes to his brother about his parent’s reaction to his homecoming, the funeral, and the sometimes surreal nature and mundane reality of dealing with death.

Let’s Have a Moment:

Like the Oscar-winning 1980 movie Ordinary People, much of Song From Far Away is concerned with a family dealing with the grief of a beloved son who has died too soon. But it’s also an exploration of a gay man in search of his place in the world: One who ran away to the bright lights of New York and has made a good living in the banking world, but who carries a void within his emotional self.

It’s one that he largely seems to fill with alcohol and avoidance of attachment.

Willem is waspish, droll but likeable. As the play goes on, his emotional frigidity becomes more apparent. On the night he arrives in Amsterdam, he cancels visiting his grieving parents and instead ends up in a bar where he picks up a Brazilian man. Sure, everyone deals with grief in different ways, but his behaviour illustrates the chasm between Willem and his supposed loved ones.

This is the third time Stephens (a playwright) and Eitzel (a songwriter) have collaborated on a play. There are just a handful of songs, and they add to the melancholic tone of the piece. Young turns in an authentic and balanced performance. Taking on a monolgue is no easy feat, but he more than rises to the occasion, effortlessly turning in a nuanced performance and owning the songs. The subject matter must inevitably resonate with him. He lost his own twin brother, Rupert, to suicide in 2020.

The Last Word:

Song From Far Away is a low-key, slow-burner. One might expect it to build to long-hidden revelations. Did specific things happen in Willem’s childhood that prompted the fracture with his family? Little is explicitly said, leaving perhaps a few too many blanks for the audience to fill in.

There’s also no satisfying sense of any of the characters learning lessons. Willem’s sister reminds him not to turn his back on something just because it’s not perfect, be that family or lovers. It’s a valid point, but does Willem hear it?

As a performer, Young is perfect for this piece and it plays to his talents. It’s running for three weeks only in London. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait years until Young’s next acting role.

Song From Far Away plays at Hampstead Theatre until 22 July.

Related:

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Will Young recalls being forced to come out 20 years ago after a tabloid threatened to expose him

“Homophobia was still happening to me in public. It was a real patriarchal system run by straight white guys, so it was rife in the media, in the music industry.”