Drag as an art form has been around for centuries, but this doesn’t mean it has to stay the same. Creative Director of Messy Friends and founder of Gendermess Productions, Ginava, speaks on breaking the ‘drag rules’ by pursuing ‘anti-drag’, which means performing in ways not previously prescribed. As wild costumes, bold dancers, and cartoonish characters come together, this is drag as it’s never been done before.
Performances are interspersed with clips of the team talking about their goals, motivations, and their feelings surrounding performing. What comes through most ardently is the sense that drag is a vessel for strong emotions, a creative outlet for the performer to explore and express their inner-self, whilst allowing the audience to resonate and do the same.
These videos, providing introductions to the team and context to performances (sometimes just allowing us to see the personality behind the characters) are small moments of vulnerability in a show that otherwise shines with confidence and precision. Whilst the show without these clips would still be an entertaining watch, the video supplies us with a stark contrast between raw individuality and incredibly polished, choreographed performances. The inclusion of this, in my opinion, elevates the show from a great watch to a fully-formed masterpiece.
In terms of the performances, we see everything from theatre to hip-hop; a slick trio donned in x-ray dresses, a ‘blind-date’ by Mary Lamb O’God (hitting the mark perfectly between funny and sexy), and an almost-acrobatic performance by Bobby Knox that I’m going to term ‘drag-futurism’.
Gendermess is dedicated to providing a platform for this style of drag, which often transcends language, straying into non-human realms and confronting taboos. One theme that seems important to the show is the concept of ‘energy’. Performing is described by Knox as an ‘energy exchange’, and it’s clear that drag is as reliant on the audience as something like stand-up comedy – performers feed off the audience and we feed off of them. When they exude joy, confidence, and freedom on stage, that’s what we take away – a feeling that endures after the curtains close and the lights come up.
Messy Friends Team:
Ginava, Creative Director
Brendon Ludlow, Producer
Flynn V
Mary Lamb O’God
Bobby Knox
Skye Scraper
Messy Friends, Assembly George Square Gardens, Piccolo, 8:55pm, Aug 9-12, 14-25.
