Old drag / new drag

What kind of a drama queen would throw themselves under a tube train in rush hour? It is just SO rude and arrogant. Apparently it means that no less than SEVEN heavily-used stations have to be closed and the service is disrupted until midnight. I mean, if you want to kill yourself then by all means, go ahead, JUST DON’T DO IT ON MY TIME, ALRIGHT?

Hence, I only just made it to Bistrotheque last night where two generations of drag were performing at Underconstruction.

First up was comparative newcomer Jonny Woo for the first night of his International Woman of Mr E show. Opening on stage in a pointed dunces hat (but with an E instead of a D), he sang, acted and threw down a variety of poses. We weren’t too keen on his show tunes but his funny stories were fantastic.

Some of the show is based around his near death experience when his body shut down of years of drink and drug abuse. There was hospital scene and a staggering tongue-twister about Polly Piper picking and popping pills that was first performed slowly and then at break-neck speed. Our favourite was the more random tale of Mr Tinkle Tum-Tum - the jealous cat who delighted in the demise of his mummy’s new baby at the hands of Sir Jasper the Wasp.

The point of drag is usually to assault the viewer’s senses - bright, loud and brash - but Jonny’s trademark is his almost hushed tone and calm and level delivery. At times it’s not much louder than a whisper and you’re forced to draw closer to listen, a cunning way of keeping us enrapt.

By stark contrast, Lavinia Co-op (ex-BloolipsTheatre Company) introduced us to a succession of colourful characters when it was her turn to take to the stage. Despite a surreal beginning where she wandered round in the guise of stage manager so the tech guy and host didn’t know what the hell was happening, she was soon entertaining us with singing turnips, a fantastic white gown with light-up headdress and a little Carmen Miranda-type number.

All of these were fantastic but my favourites were actually the quieter sections. There was a fabulous segment about the drag riots at Stonewall and the seething anger that the queens were feeling, and also a curious but inspired one-(wo)man performance of a clip from Salome.

We had thought these two acts might be a curious contrast, but they actually complimented each perfectly - two masters of their craft with the younger working diligently and the older seeming to have just a little more fun.