Boom bang-a-bang
By: Jonathan Harvey
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2013
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] /
Description: It is 1995, it is the Eurovision Song Contest and Lulu's 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' is the soundtrack to this exuberant conjuration of a Eurovision party that starts as camp and ends as farce, though there is a real power to Harvey's discussion of sexuality. Norman the lonely neighbour upstairs is trying every trick in the book to get himself invited to the party, but it is strictly for close friends only. In fact, it's really just for people who knew Michael, Lee's deceased boyfriend, as the couple used to host the best Eurovision parties and Lee wants to honour his memory. But most of his friends have opted for a rival party, and so Lee is left with his sister Wendy, the camp and irrepressible Steph, the gorgeous raver Roy, and the sparring couple Nick and Tanya. And the evening he had planned, full of kitsch, Bucks Fizz and douze points, goes astray amid the covert love affairs, accidental fires, memories and tears. 'Boom Bang-A-Bang' was first performed in 1995 at the Bush Theatre, London.
Notes: Originally published: in print in Plays one. London: Methuen Drama, 1999.