A retelling of Sleeping Beauty, full of humour and naughtiness, celebrating queerness and pop culture
Created by Miss Moppe and directed by Chris Clegg, this all-star drag pantomime at the Harold Pinter Theatre will bring you to laughs through the retelling of Sleeping Beauty. This is not a typical retelling though, as brought to the stage by TuckShop, this Sleeping Beauty is more of a celebration of queer culture as well as pop culture.
Four contestants from the UK series of RuPaul’s Drag Race star in this show. Victoria Scone (as Carabosse), Kate Butch (as Queen Camilla), Michael Marouli (as Fairy Fabulous), and Kitty Scott Claus (as Princess Beauty), all command the stage with ease, while managing to build up a very vibrant engagement with the audience.
The plot is fairly similar to the classic fairytale. The princess gets cursed when at the cradle by her evil fairy aunt to fall into a long sleep once turning 16 years old. This would occur by pricking her finger. However, Miss Moppe adds an interesting twist to the plot. The prince is not unknown to Princess Beauty. Rather he is her gender-fluid childhood friend and step-sibling. More interestingly, the evil aunt fairy wants to marry him and kidnaps him so he will not rescue Sleeping Beauty. As this suggests, the show promises some really comical scenes that will keep the audience to the verge of bursting at any time into laughs.
The set is simple, while giving a dreamy vibe with the castle-like scenery. Visual gags and various sing-a-long dance routines are complemented with various lights, sparkling costumes, gas inducing machines, and various sex-play related objects that complement the LGBTQIA+ centred play. Interestingly, even though having a central plot, the actors are given freedom to improvise and to build on their jokes. All jokes are extremely well measured and improvisation occurs to the greatest capacity. Examples are the jokes related to Grindr, popular London clubs, and various sex positions. However, characters like Ophelia Love (as an Ensemble Member) and Kemah Bob (as Handsome) take away a bit from the plot’s flow, but nevertheless they complement the show; Ophelia Love as craving for recognition and stardom and Kamah Bob as being the naughty and constantly sexual driven character of the show.
This is a show where 90% of the jokes land. Some parts could have been a bit naughtier and the character of LoUis CYfer (as King Clyde) could had been elaborated more. Nevertheless, this is a pantomime that is undoubtedly fun and will make you giggle!