Behind the Scenes: Four Play

June 28, 2025 17

Inside Rehearsals: Four Play Returns with Queer Chaos and Candid Conversations at King’s Head Theatre

25-06-25

Jake Brunger’s Four Play is returning to London this summer, bringing all the awkwardness, intimacy and honesty of queer relationships back to the stage. First performed at the Old Vic and later selling out Theatre503, this new revival opens at the King’s Head Theatre from 11 July to 17 August, directed by Jack Sain and starring Daniel Bravo, Lewis Cornay, Jo Foster and Zheng Xi Yong. A decade on from its debut, Brunger has made subtle tweaks to the script to reflect how our conversations around love, sex and connection have shifted — particularly in the queer world.

At its heart, Four Play is about a couple, Rafe and Pete, who have been together for seven years and have never been with anyone else. Curious about what they might be missing, they agree to bring a friend, Michael, into the mix — and Michael’s partner Andy is meant to be fine with it. What starts as a seemingly harmless idea soon unravels into something far more emotionally tangled. The play asks questions about boundaries, vulnerability and what we withhold from the people we love. It’s tender, funny, and painfully sharp in its observations about modern intimacy.

For cast member (and Matinee favourite) Jo Foster, the story is far more universal than it might seem at first glance. Speaking to Matinee Musicals, they said, “The show is a brilliant representation of monogamy and non-monogamy. I think it also is a way of showing the queer landscape of dating and how all relationships are valid, kind of. And I think it’s about navigating that as partners and finding out basically all the nooks and crannies not being spoken to. Yes, the production is queer. However, I think anyone can relate to it. If you’ve ever been in a relationship, or you’ve ever put your feelings aside for your partner, or you’ve maybe not spoken certain issues, I think, yeah, it just highlights a lot of stuff.” That openness and emotional messiness is exactly what makes Four Play so relatable.