Drag

Director: James Welsby Reviewer: Richard Maguire In the old days, drag was challenging and subversive often coming with a political or a gender political agenda. Now as it increasingly occupies mainstream territory, drag has been tamed and its power to undermine societal expectations has been made safe. Yummy, the new drag show opening at the Southbank’s Underbelly Festival, is as ...

Writer: BeDeLaCreme Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers It is impossible to not have a fabulous time at a BenDeLaCreme show. This reviewer has been lucky enough to see DeLa at each of her four solo shows at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, and she has unfailingly been a dazzling delight in each of them. The generosity of energy and attention to detail she ...

With so many shows at the VAULT Festival devoted to LGBTQ+ issues, The Reviews Hub’s Richard Maguire thought he’d see what the third week of the festival had to offer. He chatted to three creatives who are bringing some queer-slanted shows to the VAULT this week: Drag King, Len Blanco; director and writer Conor Hunt; and award-winning comedian Heidi Regan. ...

Writer: BenDeLaCreme Director: BenDeLaCreme Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers After a wildly successful run of the show during the summer of 2016, BenDeLaCreme returns to the Laurie Beechman Theatre with BenDeLaCreme’s Inferno A-Go-Go!. DeLa (as her fans call her) brings her trademark spark and wit to the stage, and even more confidence and polish as a seasoned performer. A fan favorite on ...

Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Drag culture is in flux at the moment. For decades, occasional nights hosting karaoke in gay bars have been the best most acts could hope for: in recent years, though, the ascendancy of TV reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race from cult hit to mainstream phenomenon has seen an influx of American-style drag performance alongside more traditional, British ...

Writer: Chelsea Piers Director: Darius Rose Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers Chelsea Piers is the showtune belting, punk rock drag goddess of Hell’s Kitchen, so why hasn’t she been on RuPaul's Drag Race yet? At the Laurie Beechman Theatre, with musical direction by Brandon James Gwinn, Chelsea strives to answer the question, when will she get her chance at international stardom? Taking the ...

Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers Benefiting various women’s shelters throughout New York, the one-night engagement of The Miss Ogynistic Beauty Pageant sets typical beauty pageant tropes on their heads. With men as contestants, the pageant creates clever send-ups of patriarchal constructs outside of the pageant world using the beauty competition format as framework. Featuring one former Miss America (Kirsten Haglund), two former ...

Choreographer: Antonio Ramos Reviewer: Jamie Rosler If your friends generally describe you as humorless or sexually repressed, this show probably isn't for you. On the other hand, maybe you're the ones who need it the most. Almodóvar Dystopia, from Antonio Ramos and the Gang bangers, is an absurd mixed-media dance piece filled with joy, chocolate, nudity, wigs, and references to Pedro ...