REVIEW: ‘CRUISE’
BY JACK HOLDEN | DIRECTED BY SEAN LANDIS | STARRING FRASER MORRISON
London’s colorful Soho district, the gay nightclub heart of the British capital, has seen its fair share of highs and lows over the past 50 or so years. At the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, like so many other major gay hotspots, it was the backdrop to lust, love and tragic loss.
Cruise, an acclaimed play by Jack Holden, is set in this era. A one-man production starring the very talented Fraser Morrison, it centres around a young operator at an LGBTI help line who one day takes a call from Michael, an older man who lived through the 1980s. What follows is an exhilarating journey through the free-wheeling gay scene and nightlife of the early 1980s—and then the increasingly fraught period of the mid-to-late 1980s.
As a young man, Michael escapes his dreary existence in suburbia, drawn to the gay bright lights of Soho. He finds and initially thrives in his newfound quirky, colourful community but the dark shadow of HIV begins to cast a pall over his life and that of so many others.
But Michael aka Mikey, and his partner ‘Slutty Dave’—given just four years to live when both are diagnosed with HIV in 1984—won’t take the prognosis lying down. They are determined to make the most of life they have. The play then becomes a celebration of life, as the countdown to 1988 begins. “We won’t face the music, we will play the music”.
Productions set in the AIDS-dominated 1980s can often be sad and gloomy. However, Cruise manages to mix this element of the period with an uplifting vibe, amply assisted by great music ranging from Peggy Lee’s Is That All There Is and Elvis Presley’s You Were Always On My Mind to early house music (indeed, one of Morrison’s many characters is house music legend, Mr Fingers).
Fraser Morrison (STC’s The Normal Heart) received the Sydney Theatre Award for ‘Best Performance in a Leading Role in an Independent Production’ for his performance in Cruise in 2025. Again this year, Fraser brilliantly brings to life the more than 20 characters he plays. It is a truly amazing performance from this very versatile, exciting actor, as he effortlessly shuttles from one character to another for a solid 100 minutes without a break.
The production is a celebration of life, community and diversity as well as a tribute to a lost generation, all staged in entertaining, enthralling theatre.
Cruise is at the Seymour Centre in Sydney until October 31. Tickets at www.seymourcentre.com/event/cruise/ Then it moves to Theatre Works in Melbourne from November 11 – 21. Tickets at www.theatreworks.org.au/2026/cruise
4/5 stars. Reviewed by Craig Thomas
