There’s plenty of queer theatre to enchant as 2024 starts but first, from the creators of Death Drop, this year’s Drag pantomime is Sleeping Beauty. Princess Aurora is under a spell to sleep for 100 years, or is she just hungover? Will the evil Carabosse be victorious or will the ever-so-horny Prince Charming save the day?
The show stars, among others, drag royalty in the shape of Kitty Scott-Claus, LoUis CYfer, Yshee Black, Kemah Bob, Victoria Scone, Ophelia Love and Kate Butch.
Written by drag legend Miss Moppe and staged by Death Drop’s producer Chris Clegg, it runs at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End from 28-31 December. Tickets HERE
London’s first-ever all-female circus show by the Revel Puck Circus Company, is The Ruckus: Everyone’s Invited. Expect an iconic drag king, incredible acrobatics, hot pink human-size balloons, all re-telling the myths of London. It features contortionist and drag king Ruby Gaskell, aerialist Zoe Schubert, strong woman Helga Ehrenbrusch, acrobat Lola Latham, Master of the Cyr wheel and hula hoop Laura Hogg and hair hanging and aerial hooping Tara Talland.
The show is at Fellowship Square, Waltham Forest Town Hall, London from now until 1 January. Tickets HERE.
There have been many plays, films and musicals about gay code-breaker Alan Turing, and now there’s another one – Alan Turing: A Musical Biography, being staged at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios from 8-27 January. With music by Joel Goodman and a book by Joan Greening – and starring Joe Bishop as Turing – it takes us on a journey through Turing’s life from code breaking at Bletchley Park to his scandalous treatment as a gay man at the hands of the authorities. Tickets HERE
The modern gay romantic comedy Exhibitionists has been chosen to open the new King’s Head Theatre in Islington, immediately behind the old iconic venue of the same name. Running from 5 January – 10 February, it’s set in San Francisco’s art world. When ex-partners collide at an exhibition, sparks fly and their new boyfriends are caught in the blast, igniting a series of comic crises and a road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway.
The show, written by Shaun McKenna, whose credits include Lord of The Rings, Ladies in Lavender and the forthcoming The Forsyte Saga, is co-produced by James Seabright who is also chair of the trustees at the King’s Head, which now boasts 200 and 50-seat spaces. The venue is focussed on creating work with, by and for the LGBTQ+ community. Tickets HERE.
After a successful run at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Cowbois transfers to London’s Royal Court. Cowbois is a rollicking queer western. In a sleepy town in the Wild West, the women drift through their days like tumbleweed, whose husbands, swept up in the gold rush, have been missing almost a year.
Handsome bandit Jack Cameron swaggers into town, hiding from bounty hunters. What follows is a gender revolution. It runs 11 January – 10 February. LoUis CYfer, in their alter ego L J Parkinson, features in this show too. Tickets HERE
And finally, Afterglow, which had a great run at the Southwark Playhouse, and later globally, returns from 12 January – 10 February. Written and directed by S. Asher Gelman, Afterglow is billed as “the climax is just the beginning” and it stars Peter McPherson, James Nicholson and Victor Hugo.
It’s a raw, funny and sensual exploration of polyamory, commitment and modern love. It’s the story of Josh and Alex, a married couple in an open relationship, who invite Darius to share their bed for the night. Relationships are challenged, and futures are shaken, as all three re-adjust. I saw its original incarnation and gave it five stars for its hot, engrossing drama. Tickets HERE
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