Opening on 25 February, this new production of Kevin Elyot’s seminal queer classic, My Night with Reg, invites audiences back to 1980s London – a time of big hair, bigger personalities, and a community grappling with love, loss and the looming shadow of the AIDS crisis.
The one who isn’t there
If you know, you know: Reg never actually appears on stage. And yet, he’s everywhere.
My Night with Reg follows a tight-knit group of gay friends bound by shared history – and by their connections to the enigmatic Reg, whose presence lingers in the hearts of all. Over drinks, parties and sharp-tongued exchanges, Elyot unpicks the tangled web of desire, betrayal and unspoken truths that hold this friendship group together.
Set against the vibrant – and volatile – backdrop of 1980s London, the play offers a deeply human portrait of queer life in the shadow of the epidemic. As disaster knocks, friendships fracture, secrets spill and the emotional cost of survival comes sharply into focus.
A queer classic
When it premiered in 1994, My Night with Reg won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and enjoyed a celebrated West End run, later adapted for television. Thirty years on, it remains a cornerstone of the queer theatre canon – wickedly funny, emotionally devastating and painfully honest.
Director Dan Usztan sums it up perfectly:
“My Night with Reg is a classic of the queer theatre canon, and to be directing it as a queer director during LGBTQ+ History Month with a queer cast is the icing on the cake!
“Kevin Elyot’s masterpiece, written thirty years ago during the AIDS crisis and focussing on the tangled webs of gay friendship groups, has lost none of its wit, sparkle and edge.
“This year’s LGBTQ+ History Month focuses on science and innovation – so to look at this play again, with such advances around AIDS treatment and prevention, shines a light on the bravery and resilience that so many men shouldered, and also the shame they faced from governments who wouldn’t let them live.
“My Night with Reg will have you laughing and crying in equal measure – bring your friends and a box of tissues.”
Why now?
With this year’s LGBTQ+ History Month theme spotlighting science and innovation, revisiting a play rooted in the height of the AIDS crisis feels especially poignant. Today’s advances in HIV prevention and treatment are life-changing – but they rest on the shoulders of a generation who endured stigma, silence and unimaginable loss.
Elyot’s writing refuses to sanctify or sentimentalise. Instead, he gives us flawed, funny, messy men navigating lust, jealousy, loyalty and grief. It’s that balance of camp comedy and emotional gut-punch that makes this play endure.
For QX readers looking for something that’s more than just a night out – something that connects our present freedoms with our recent history – this is essential viewing.
Expect razor-sharp wit. Expect uncomfortable truths. Expect to see your own friendship group reflected back at you.
And yes – bring tissues.
Tickets from £9
My Night with Reg runs from 25 February – 7 March 2026, at The Tower Theatre, 16 Northwold Road, London N16 7HR, United Kingdom.
