Sweetmeat by Ivo de Jager. The Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London until 23 November 2024,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Strong meat indeed.”

Far from being sweet this two hander play is indeed strong meat and the stars are for the cast who certainly rise to the challenges it presents them with. As to the challenges it presents the audience it is another matter. Based on a true story about how Armin Meiwes killed and ate, with his consent, a man called Bernd Jurgen, who he had meet through various internet sites, in 2001 in Rottenburg, Germany. It comes with various warnings from the producer that it include self harm, nudity, suicide, and abusive relationships which is not quite all that it includes. They might also warn you not to sit in the front row, at least at this production, as you will run the risk of being covered in Kensington gore at the end as one reviewer did, and having possibly a rather too close proximity to some of the other things that happen as I discovered, Meiwes also filmed the whole proceedings and this, shown at his trial, apparently caused those who saw it to need treatment.

De Jager has built his story around the case. Sigismund, a deeply disturbed young man starts to share a flat with Christian, an equally disturbed young man, and their relationship moves from tentative friendship, through drug taking to sex and an obsession with Christian wanting to be consumed by Sigismund as a means of fulfilling their love. It makes hard watching and Matthew Dunlop and Jamie McClean, after a slightly shaky start when they are delivering the lines rather too fast, certainly do all that de Jager has confronted them with doing. The stars are for them as I am not at all sure about the play and whether this case is a subject for one in the first place. Ivo de Jager says he discovered the case as a lonely gay teenager and could relate to the desire for constant companionship and understanding symbolised by the act of consensual cannibalism, particularly given his culturally Catholic background and exposure to sacrifice, transubstantiation and the spilling of blood as signs of devotion.

The play has been seen in earlier versions on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 and on the Brighton Fringe. It really has to come with a health warning. In my case no seconds, thank you.

Cast

Matthew Dunlop.

Jamie McClean.

Creatives

Director – Conor Geoghegan.

Lighting Designer – Jess Parritt.