REVIEW: Behind Closed Doors at South Shields Customs House

Behind Closed Doors

South Shields Customs House

Saturday 1 August 2026

A two-handed play about the other side of romance appeared in South Shields this weekend. Before heading out to the Fringe Festivals, the South Shields audience were given a chance to see some powerful new writing. 

Of course within a show that is only one hour long there is a need to set up the story quickly and this is done through a pair of effective monologues. The writer of the show, Corey Muizelaar, appears as Jude - a young man who thinks he is in search of love and a deeper relationship. Ben Robert Cunningham is the more confident Charlie who meets up with Jode and initially wants nothing more than a quick no-strings-attached shag in the car. 

What is clever is that, rather than drowning the audience in tons of dialogue showing the progression of the relationship after the quick exchange of texts, we are exposed to the sort of relationship montage that one associates with rom-com type movies. The domesticity of life is performed to music and quickly the couple are settled in.

Thus we have the microcosm of a young relationship. The lack of self awareness of young men. Insecurity and need for love and acceptance.  It's painful. Feeling trapped in a relationship where you don't know if you are loved passionately or hated so intensely, they feel the need to hurt you. 

Two young men caught in a claustrophobic tangle with all the nonsensical melodramatic gaslighting that happens when two people fail to step back and look at the situation, allowing it to become toxic. 

This was a tough watch. Emotionally one feels for both the men while seeing their flaws. Be warned, there are sexual scenes, domestic violence, drug taking and suicide themes. As a member of the audience you are pulled through the wringer as the relationship falters. You hope that a third party would appear and give support to both of them - though it is suggested that Jude is going through counselling, you wonder if there is enough support about the complexities of the situation. One imagines the sessions are brief and unlikely to dig deeper into the issues.   

The piece was written as part of the writer's therapy. We too, as members of the audience,  became part of the therapy. 

Emotional. Raw and unflinching look at the consequences of young, unready,  love. There has been no attempt to soften the blows and the result lingers in your memory. Even though we only see a handful of episodes in the life of this couple the emotional journey has a lasting effect. Whilst this show is centred around a gay relationship, the themes are broader and apply to other types of relationships - having said that, perhaps there is not enough exposure of abuse within this very type of relationship. Powerful theatre like this deserves an audience.

Review: Stephen & Joanne Oliver

Future performance dates

8th - 9th August 2026, 8.00pm

The Old Red Lion, Camden

12–30 August 2026, 3.15pm

Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Venue 41

15th September 2026, 7:30pm

Guildford Fringe Festival, The Back Room of the Star Inn

Content guidance

The production contains themes of domestic violence, drug use, scenes of a

sexual nature, addiction, emotional abuse, coercive control, self-harm and

suicide.