‘Draguation’ at the Soho Theatre with Finger In The Pie cabaret
It’s Tuesday, so it must be a drag-graduation (draguation if you prefer) at the Soho Theatre.
This is the third piece of drag theatre I’ve seen at the Soho within the space of a few weeks, so you could say it’s becoming a habit *adjusts wig*.
The drag graduates were seven men and one woman who’d taken part in Finger In The Pie Theatre’s 10 week performance crash-course. This was the first time the dragees had shown their new personas in public, and nerves were understandably showing.
The evening was compered by drag teacher, actor and cabaret artist Michael Twaits, who gave a brief run-down of how the drag personas came from intensive workshop sessions. Given that this was the first time any of the participants had appeared on stage, they were incredibly accomplished.
Each graduate had a ten-minute slot on stage to do their thing. What struck me most was how developed their characters were. There weren’t your run of the mill female impersonators – not that there’s owt wrong with that – but they were fully realised characters, complete with backstories.
Every graduate introduced themselves to the audience with a short piece on who they were – from a failed Eurovision singer to a omnisexual being from the future, a forest creature, and – most bizarrely of all – a human / spider plant hybrid.
The evening ended with a drunk woman lurching around the front rows alarmingly, haranguing the audience. Well it wouldn’t be cabaret without a bit of audience participation, would it?