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Post by Steve on Jan 22, 2023 9:03:09 GMT
Saw this last night, and had a blast, enjoying this celebration of drag artists and their lives, though I never really spotted a play as such, more a laundry list of concerns, followed by a party. Great fun, if you're up for it!
Some spoilers follow. . .
There was more raucous cheering at the Royal Court last night than I can ever remember hearing before, as seven diverse drag artists, and a cardboard cut-out, told us about their lives and concerns, and then showed us what they can do!
Although the audience were very much a focus of the show (who sees drag artists, what they should expect from drag artists, how much they should pay to see drag artists, what protection they should offer drag artists from bigots), with much fourth wall breaking, thankfully there was no audience interaction, as such, so even if you sit at the very front, you can do so safe in the knowledge you won't be picked on.
The cardboard cut-out stood in for Tammy Reynolds (aka Midgitte Bardot), who was acknowledged by the 7 on stage as having contributed to the piece, and who spoke to us through pre-recorded vocals. Given the prep and rehearsal involved in producing the cut-out and recording, I didn't get the feeling Reynolds or Bardot will be back, but I may be wrong.
The play itself was scrappy, involving various setpieces, such as an actual (Brechtian) tea party where we meet the 7, a protest over pay which involved sending buckets into the audience and a protest over Ru Paul's ubiquity and alleged bias against the full diversity of body types and trans identities.
The Ru Paul protest felt more pertinent than the pay protest, which immediately undermined itself as it devolved into an argument that the £75 per show the Royal Court pays them is less per show than they'd get normally get. That seemed to me to be an argument less in support of drag artists per se and more in support of theatre artists generally, who may well be about to strike.
If one compares this to "For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy," another Royal Court show about how a subset of humanity gets imprisoned in metaphorical boxes, that show was a "proper" play, with poetic and meticulously written and revelatory structured scenes, whereas this really isn't, being much more chatty, apparently improvised and loose. At the same time, the audience for this, for the duration, were in much higher spirits than the audience for the aforementioned play (at least when I saw it), possibly the highest I've ever experienced at the Royal Court, building to a really raucous second half, which is an actual drag show, where each of the 7 get to strut their stuff.
The second half is a demonstration of how much self-loving, life-affirming communal fun drag can be, with all sorts of identities and body types embraced and celebrated: Sue Gives A F*ck was an enormously endearing and hugely humorous host of the celebrations, and particularly fabulously dressed (Julian Clary might even approve lol); Wet Mess was particularly ferocious, strutting the stage like a non-binary tiger; and Ms Sharon Le Grand proved particularly entertaining, as she provided a roof-raising highlight of the night with a toweringly operatic, dramatic and unforgettable rendition of the Cheeky Girls song!
It was CHIYO, however, who left the most indelible mark on the finale. Apparently noticing the absence of an actual play, CHIYO exceptionally skillfully integrated his own play into his performance piece, with a celebratory performance that included bitter and incisive twists and turns, performed so skillfully that raucous screams were turned to pindrop silence in a heartbeat!
Overall, Travis Alabanza has successfully curated, rather than written, a scrappy night of tea spilling and raucous fun. 4 stars from me.  |
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Post by drmaplewood on Jan 22, 2023 10:33:58 GMT
Very keen to see this, I've previously enjoyed Travis' work a lot.
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Post by foxa on Jan 23, 2023 13:59:17 GMT
Really interested to read your review, Steve, thank you, and, as I was thinking of seeing if I could pick up a cheap seat sometime, reassured that there is no embarrassing audience interaction. The tickets for this seem to be selling a little better perhaps than the previous two downstairs shows, so it may be finding its audience. I saw on twitter someone saying in reaction to this play that the Royal Court should pay its performers more- probably not quite the takeaway the RC was hoping for! |
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Post by harry on Jan 29, 2023 0:43:24 GMT
I saw on twitter someone saying in reaction to this play that the Royal Court should pay its performers more- probably not quite the takeaway the RC was hoping for! It’s interesting, as that wasn’t really the takeaway I got or felt the show was trying to make (foxa I realise this isn’t your comment but something someone that you don’t know said!). At first it maybe seemed like the performers were griping about being paid less for doing “proper theatre” than they could be doing gigs, but ultimately I think the point they and the show is making is that the arts are so underfunded that the grass isn’t always greener. I certainly didn’t think it was saying the Royal Court are doing anything that’s isn’t completely industry standard for subsidised theatre, just that pretty much nobody working in theatre is making much money. Anyway the show as a whole. Well, aside from the first bit which parodies a straight play and I thought fell a bit flat, I found this really engaging, interesting and the lasting impression was one of celebration and mutual support. The long lipsync section in the first half is fascinating and hypnotic. And do yourself a favour and buy a big drink at the interval as I would think Act 2 is best enjoyed a little tipsy imagining you’re in an East London basement club cheering along. Even the inevitable gut punch towards the end is not as much accusatory or trying to make us feel bad about enjoying ourselves, as it is acknowledging that making great art sometimes requires hardship along the way. In many ways the show does feel, perhaps, a funny fit at a new writing theatre in that it’s more sculpted than “written” and relies very heavily on the wonderful bunch of performers but also perhaps that’s entirely the point. It’s certainly entertaining to ponder what a midweek matinee audience will make if it. Overall a strong 4 stars from me (and definitely stick with it if you’re finding the first 30min a bit “6th form revue”) |
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Post by imstillhere on Feb 1, 2023 14:06:11 GMT
It isn't a great play, in fact it isn't even really a play, it won't be remembered as a brilliant peice of new writing and it isn't as radical as it thinks it is but it is a pretty fun night out.
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Post by drmaplewood on Feb 7, 2023 8:23:29 GMT
The cardboard cut-out stood in for Tammy Reynolds (aka Midgitte Bardot), who was acknowledged by the 7 on stage as having contributed to the piece, and who spoke to us through pre-recorded vocals. Given the prep and rehearsal involved in producing the cut-out and recording, I didn't get the feeling Reynolds or Bardot will be back, but I may be wrong.
Ah Tammy was there last night so must have been unwell when you went Steve, they were my highlight of the show (having seen their act at Duckie before and was great fun). I agree that it probably isn't quite as radical as it thinks it is (it is essentially a night out at The Glory or another of London's alternative queer spaces, but with a bit more of a budget) but it was tremendous fun for a Monday night. |
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Post by mjh on Feb 11, 2023 17:28:17 GMT
Cardboard cut out for Midgitte this afternoon again. In the voice over they do acknowledge that essentially their physical disabilities means they can't do all the shows. Unclear if there's a set schedule for it.
We were also down Lilly Snatchdragon with the resident director filling in for the scripted bits.
Generally very much enjoyed but do feel a bit sad to have not seen the full thing. That said, my friend's performance last Friday was cancelled so can't complain too much.
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