Drag was perhaps the campest history lesson I’ve ever had.
It was all sequins with stories of Shakespearean drag and travels through Hellenic history in heels. For me – as a novice to the intricacies of drag – this was a lesson well learnt.
The show indulged in the fragmented history of drag queens and then turned into a showcase of inspirational women. Elixir Bowles was a smooth-moving Janet Jackson, popping and locking with such precision it gave the audience whiplash. Fab Panache then hit the stage as Liza, conveying the same high-energy that the original was so famous for.
So much high energy in fact, there was a moment where it looked like she might have lost her pants. Aria Ready launched onto the stage next as the effervescent Tina Turner, more like a bulldozer; Kodi Pendant gave us a haunting rendition of the blue-skinned alien opera singer from The Fifth Element and fill-in drag queen Electra Thigh gave us a great punk-rock show.
But the stand-out moment for this performance was Swish’s Kylie performance – in her trademark white bodysuit, she replicates the Kylie Can’t Get You Out Of My Head experience to the tee. As the lights went down and the music faded to its last la la la’s we see Swish grab a stool and return to the stage, underneath a lone spotlight. And it is here that Swish tears off the wig to reveal Dean, the man behind the make-up.
Not to give too much away, we hear some touching and funny stories from some of the girls and their attraction to this avant-garde art form. There are points where this troupe feels a bit like the Spice Girls, each coupled with some specialty skill.
Where Swish is definitely the all-rounder, Aria Ready is surprisingly funny as she tramped around the stage, yelling in her faux eastern-European accent. Kodi Pendant takes the award for ‘Most Ecclectic’, Elixia Bowles wins the sharpest hip-hop moves. Electra Thigh filled the role of rock chick well and Panache ties the whole thing up.
Personally I would like to have learnt a bit more about the boys behind the girls but the stories are nice. I also would have also liked to learn a bit about behind the scenes of the drag world but like I said, it does well enough to cover the vast concept of drag.
There is a lot here to take away from this local production. Where this show will go after its 14 night run, who knows? But it’s not hard to read what Panache, the producer, wants out of this production: ‘I don’t want to be a woman,’ she says in the performance, ‘I want to be a star!’
Benn Dorrington
Disclaimer: What a small world… Elixir Bowles is a writer for OUTinPerth; Fab Panache (Ryan Schulz) is a former columnist for OUTinPerth Newspaper and Graeme Watson (OUTinPerth Editor) is a financial member of the Blue Room and was on the panel who commissioned the current season prior to starting at OUTinPerth.
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