Charles Quittner

Too Much Pills And Liquor, a play full of original pop that asks queer people why they’re partying more than they’re protesting. The way Isherwood would have wanted.

After years of trying to make connections in London, Sam has found a shortcut: work for a celebrity. Having landed the job as pop star Riley Sibanda’s Substack editor, his old queer life of charity work and self-loathing is having to make way for a new life of k holes and... a little bit less self-loathing. But with the queer community under greater threat than ever and fascism on the rise, can Sam keep justifying darkrooms as a type of activism?

Inspired by the musical Cabaret, Too Much Pills And Liquor is a look at white gay men’s relationship to the world beyond them, and what happens when self-care gets in the way of the real work.

After a staged reading presented at the Glory in January 2024, one of the last performances of the legendary venue, Too Much Pills and Liquor ran June-July at The Divine as the first theatrical run at the space.

“Glorious direction from Charles Quittner makes use of every inch of the space, including the layout, the bar and even the sound desk as it turns into a bustling smoking area. Aided by Lunah’s set design and the atmospheric lighting, you almost forget where you are and you’re expertly transported to wherever Sam is in that moment wether it be in a bathroom taking drugs or sitting on the Bakerloo line. Too Much Pills and Liquor is a perfect reflection of the modern queer experience. It’s funny, it’s dark and most of all, it’s important. It deals with topics some of us are too scared to think about and leaves you wanting to make a change, stand up and use your queerness in a way you never have before.”
-Theatricellie, ★★★★★

“Queer Brooklyn director Charles Quittner’s breathtaking adrenaline blast of a show…his staging is literally electric. [David Levesley’s] script is a genius–level thoughtstream of the identity crisis anyone who’s lived, worked and played in urban jungles like contemporary London will recognize in a drug-accelerated heartbeat…When Sam’s pain comes, in amongst the viciously funny takedowns of the worst of what we’ve all become, Dan de la Motte has the perfect beat to deliver a pathos and powerful meaning that takes you completely by surprise.”
-2 Shades Magazine