Described as a supernatural rom-com, Getting Over Hugh might better be expressed as a fabulous hot mess of a show. Whilst it’s certainly an entertaining hour, the jumbled chaos of ideas never quite works out what type of show it wants to be.
a fabulous hot mess of a show
The plot is almost completely nonsensical which I will do my best to give it justice. Late twenties Rory ends up sitting next to late forties Alan to watch a matinée performance of the gay classic Beaches. Alan, recently widowed after the death of his husband, is somewhat surprised when a man young enough to be his son starts making moves on him and agrees to meet with him for a drink later in the week.
When Alan returns home for the evening, the ghost of his ex-husband appears (the eponymous Hugh) and chastises Alan for flirting with young Rory. Hugh has been regularly appearing since his death, but only Alan can see him. Also, he’s dressed in a Regency period outfit (as this is, apparently, what he wore for his wedding).
By the end, Rory turns out to be wealthy, with Microsoft wanting to buy his tech company. The man who witnesses Hugh’s suicide turns out to be the one who killed him. Alan starts dressing as a hipster, Hugh stops wearing Regency outfits and dances with Alan to Diana Ross while his ashes are sprinkled on the stage. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the reason for Hugh’s suicide was that he caught Alan in bed with his (straight) brother.
Getting Over Hugh certainly doesn’t lack ideas; however, what it does lack is the overall narrative structure that allows all these ideas to coalesce into a plot. There’s just too much going on at any point in time—whether plot points are being introduced or a sudden shift from comedy to heartfelt sadness. There comedy of finding your husband and brother in bed together is awkwardly juxtaposed against the tragedy of the suicide, which isn’t played for laughs. When the finale exposes the cause of Hugh'’s death, it’s unclear whether you’re meant to laugh or cry. Similarly it's not quite clear what emotions we're to feel with Alan’s suicide attempt, as Hugh attempts to talk him out of it (still, as I say, dressed in a Regency period outfit).
There are numerous issues with the staging throughout. Let’s start with the scene changes—usually done in a blackout or with minimal lighting. Less often, as this show does, done in quite a bright floodlight. The characters turn ‘dead-eyed’ at the end of the scene and then rise from the metaphorical dead in this bright ghostly light to set the stage for the next scene. Staging issues continue throughout, and by the end of the show, the stage is littered with popcorn, suicide pills, and Hugh’s ashes.
I was left with many questions by the end. Why is Rory, a man with a successful tech company, interested in Alan, a late-forties widower? Why is Rory watching Beaches in a matinée performance? Why does the ghost of Hugh reappear after his suicide? How does Rory get hold of the train station footage from the police to expose that Hugh was killed? Why did they decide to use what looks like a red concertina for chairs, despite using two chairs to tie this between? Why did the show decide to end with the revelation that the man who killed Hugh has received seven years for manslaughter?
It’s a shame I couldn’t share a drink after the show with the cast and put these questions to them, as it’s clear they’re having a fantastic time on stage. This energy helps keep the audience engaged and on-side throughout, whilst the trio kept the show together despite everything going on. There’s much to be said for a show that keeps the audience both entertained and guessing what’s going to happen next, although I left with the feeling that there might have been a couple of drinks involved when writing this marvellously jumbled mess.
