It’s roughly ten minutes into this seemingly innocent two-hander about two old blokes who befriend each other on their daily dog walk that Ian McKellen makes a gag about deep-throating a cucumber.
It’s unexpected, certainly. The Hallmark-style poster and the programme full of slightly mad articles by producers and writers about ‘pooches I have known’ lead us to believe Ben Weatherill’s play will be all dog diets and doctors’ appointments. And while there’s plenty of that as McKellen and Roger Allam sidle into friendship, there’s more too: poppers, Pride and radical, ageless romance.
