November 3-7

The Choir of Man promises “the best pub in the world” as it heads to the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton from November 3-7 – an uplifting celebration of community and friendship where everyone is welcome.

Featuring hits from artists including Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns & Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry, it offers an evening of encouragement for men to share their thoughts and feelings.

Nimi Owoyemi, who plays The Poet in the piece, says: “We are all men, and it's about themes of friendship and the sanctity of community. It's a show that's a huge advocate for men's mental health. We are working with CALM (The Campaign Against Living Miserably, a suicide prevention charity on a mission to help people end their misery, not their lives).

“I am playing The Poet and I get the honour of navigating the show. They call me The Poet because I yap on a bit but for two hours I get to sound smart and eloquent. For two hours I sound alright!”

But Nimi stresses the mental health message is done in a subtle way: “You never want to be preachy. We have a song where someone is going through romantic break-up and really it's all just about making sure that everybody is there. It's a laddie laddie pub but we're all in it together. We are in an epidemic where men feel that they can't talk but we say that the pub is a judgement-free zone and we implore men to talk more. We want everybody to be able to say how they are and to realise that it's OK to talk about how you feel.

“The archetype of man is someone that provides, and the general consensus is you just tend to speak on the surface – ‘Hi! How are you?’ Too many people feel that it is not manly to talk but with this show we've got the nine different archetypes of man, we've got the barman and the one going through the break-up and we’ve got the handyman and we’ve got the bore, and it's about exploring all these different characters and exploring the fact that we are all there for each other and that we can all sing together and have a great time.”

Plenty of people will come to the show not knowing what to expect, and that's a good thing, Nimi says: “I don't know what to expect most of the time! And that’s the beautiful thing. There is no actor and audience. It's just everybody together in the same room at the same time having a unique experience. No one is ever going to see the same show twice. People get to shout out. The fourth wall is non-existent. It's just not there, and everybody feels part of the show.”