Brit playwright John Donnelly’s The Pass is a brutal and devastating look at internalized homophobia and the fake life that certain people in the limelight are forced to live, still—although we have broken some ground (I hope) since the work was initially written 12 years ago.
Director Max Hunter’s production off-Broadway at La Mama opens with cocky 17-year-old soccer player, Jason (a ferocious Matisse Ratron-Neal), sharing a hotel room, in Bulgaria, with another 17-year-old soccer hopeful, Ade (Terry Bell), the night before a significant match where only one of them will move on contractually. Both perform most of the scene in their underwear. And worry not gays-looking-for the salacious, Ratron-Neal does drop-trou—backside only–for one alluring moment of seduction—for both the other character onstage as well as audience.
After too much blather, the scene ends with Jason and Ade together in the shower.
I had issues with this first scene; it is too dimly lit–I found myself squinting a lot and tends to meander with too much emphasis on forcing us to believe the characters are teens. We get it. The actors, however, make it work.
But wait!
Act Two sucker-punches the audience awake thanks to the acting dynamo, Ino Badanjak, who hurricanes into the play as erotic dancer Lyndsey, seemingly there to shag the now soccer star, Jason. Although, that’s not her real reason for her being in the hotel room in Spain (with a view of Morocco), and even that gets turned on its ear.
Badanjak is a sultry, refreshing breath of dizzying scene-stealing, take-no-prisoners fresh air, stirring the plot and keeping scene-partner Ratron-Neal on his sexy toes. She’s a virtuoso star in the making.
The final scene features a fab turn by Oliver Rowland-Jones, as a star-struck–and star-fucking, one gathers, given the opportunity– young bellhop. “I’m up for anything,” he boasts, “my mates say I got no boundaries.”
This riotous sequence brings Jason and Ade back together for a fierce and somewhat cathartic but definitely telling finale.
The play fearlessly explores power dynamics, toxic masculinity, identity, racism, self-hatred and the destructive effects of competition, when it’s taken to an extreme.
It is also, and most effectively, a fascinating look at the damaged monsters that homophobic cultures create and wonders if the craziness will ever stop.
The Pass was adapted into a 2016 film that featured a terrific central performance by Russell Tovey. I’m guessing the tremendous success of Heated Rivalry had something to do with the play finally being produced in the U.S..
The Pass is playing at la Mama through September 4, 2026.
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