The title suggests a drag show, but Joel Samuels’ surprising and tender one-act play is in fact the story of an on-off romance between Adam (Samuels) and Damian (Daniel Ward), dogged by seeming incompatibilities and petty deceptions. The pair speak through handheld microphones directly to the audience and to each other, conveying the narrative briskly and effectively. Adam persuades Damian to share his passion for 60s/70s divas – Cher, Dusty, Aretha, The Supremes, The Ronettes, etc – and a three-girl a cappella group interjects occasionally with numbers associated with those artists. It is here that the show falters – the arrangements are weak and the songs are projected with little conviction. In order to make sense of the link between the story and the music, we need the songs to be showcased better than this. However, there are interesting and original ideas here and certainly there is scope for the show to be developed further.
Performance date: 21 August 2015
The Beast's Pen 