THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Book by Stephan Elliott, Allan Scott, additional material by Phil Scott; adapted for the stage by Simon Phillips
HERE @ Outernet, Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 8LH
Hard to believe it is 30 years since Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner's eye-popping, Oscar winning, costumes for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert burst into our consciousness.
That hit movie successfully rode a very fine line between the barnacled cynicism of drag and the emotional honesty needed to make an affecting drama. It lifted our hearts using a score of well-known pop songs which formed the basis of the drag performances or were used as counterpoint. '60s movie icon Terence Stamp made an incredibly poignant comeback as Bernadette, the doyenne of a trio of Sydney pub drag queens, who journeyed across the Australian Outback in an old jalopy of a purple tour bus they christened Priscilla, to perform a gig in a casino club in Alice Springs.
The '80s, even in Australia, were far less enlightened times to be queer and the piece is a sobering reminder of all that. The two drag queens and one transgender woman here are constantly attuned to, and ready for, the imminent possibility of violence. But it's interesting too how times have changed - the sexual licentiousness displayed here would pit them against the new puritanism of today. What made the show universal though was its heartfelt appeal to live and let live. It was also surprisingly thoughtful, yet festooned with some of the best one-liners you'll ever hear. It should never be thought of merely as a disco jukebox show because underneath all those feathers it also packed an emotional punch.
Transformed into a stage musical in 2006, it became Australia's most successful theatrical export and has since been staged in 133 cities across 35 countries. The original producers and the creator Stephan Elliott have rightly kept a tight rein on it, as they do here where it has now been reincarnated into a new immersive theater format with some updated songs including Lady Gaga and some additional Kylie.
Following on from the success of ABBA Voyage, and Mamma Mia The Party which re-envisaged that show as a dinner theater event in a vast taverna, this locates the show in a darkened nightclub.
HERE @ Outernet is the latest thing in London's events/club scene and is found in the basement of a stunning new-build venue which has emerged phoenix like from the redevelopment of the Elizabeth Line station at Tottenham Court Road. It perfectly fits with director Simon Phillips' choice to go for a promenade staging. There are some seats around the edges, but most opt for the dancefloor tickets where gay rustlers herd the audience to fill the gaps created by the constantly moving stage platforms. Brian Thomson and Justin Nardella's designs are both sparse and high-tech at the same time, a giant video wall providing backdrops for the Outback vistas, the famous purple bus and the club settings.
As you might imagine this is not for the cerebral audience member. It welcomes gangs of friends, birthday groups and hen parties and there's total freedom to move about. A large cocktail bar keeps the booze and hot food snacks flowing.
Where the film, and indeed the original staging, neatly balanced the songs and the drama the focus here has definitely shifted to Party and some dramatic heft is lost along the way.
This cast also uses established drag performers rather than just actors. From Sydney there's Trevor Ashley as the fearsomely burly/buxom Gaye Cliché, who also serves as our MC, there's non-binary performer Dakota Starr playing the lead Bernadette, and stealing the show in the role of Felicia there's Reece Kerridge (real life drag artiste Gracie Lou) whose energy is as intoxicating as his wit is rapier.
Owain Williams manages to neatly ground the key character of Tick, who ends up meeting a young son he'd been hiding from, and Steven Serlin is very affecting too in the lynchpin role as Bob the Mechanic, who rescues the trio.
The whole ensemble is drilled to perfection and by the end the dressers must be as exhausted as the performers.
