Myra DuBois: A Problem Shared
Online
Reviewed – 25th November 2020
★★★
“Myra is a seasoned pro, but her oxygen is a live audience”
Myra DuBois, or ‘The Siren of South Yorkshire’ as she describes herself, has been dispensing her particular caustic brand of wit and wisdom on London stages for the past 12 years, from well-known queer cabaret spaces like the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to the Soho Theatre and the Southbank Centre. A Problem Shared is Myra’s gift to us all in lockdown, allowing us to tweet in with our problems and receive personalised advice; reminding us, always, to breathe in with resentment and out with gratitude.
Once the show starts, we find ourselves in Myra’s office, complete with glitter curtain, a decanter of gin, and her downtrodden sister and assistant Rose Lavender manning the phone. It is definitely worth tuning in a little early however, to see the marvellous pre-show adverts: Legal Help from Norfolk & Chance; Rose Lavender’s signature perfume ‘with high notes of lavender and rose with a hint of sensual Rotherham’ to name but two. The show is basically Myra’s take on a simple Agony Aunt format with a few little surprises thrown in – a couple of hand-delivered letters through the glitter curtain and a wonderful appearance from the evil Miss Corona Virus herself, who, resplendent in green, regales us with a topically updated version of Peggy Lee’s Fever.
Myra is a seasoned pro, but her oxygen is a live audience. Watching her at Johnny Woo’s wonderful UnRoyal Variety Show a couple of years ago reduced this reviewer to helpless tears, whereas last night’s small screen performance at the kitchen table only mustered a few little chortles. And therein lies the problem. Drag and cabaret performers NEED a live audience. The lifeblood of this kind of show is the unscripted arch comeback, and the heady rush of boozy laughter. The energy of queer performance in particular comes from the joy and ownership of shared space; the subversive power of being in the majority for once and taking over the gaff. God knows it’s a much-needed energy right now, and power to Myra for doing her bit to keep the show on the road, but let’s bloody hope she can take her rightful place back in a roomful of revellers before too much longer.
Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw
Photography by Holly Revell
Myra DuBois: A Problem Shared
Online via www.myradubois.co.uk
There is one more performance on Christmas Eve which will be a pre-record
Recently reviewed by Rebecca:
Henry V | ★★★★ | The Barn Theatre | March 2020
Superman | ★★★½ | The Vaults | March 2020
Fanny & Stella | ★★★★ | The Garden Theatre | August 2020
Antony & Cleopatra | ★★ | Theatro Technis | September 2020
C-o-n-t-a-c-t | ★★★★ | Monument | September 2020
The Tempest | ★★★ | Turk’s Head | September 2020
Living With the Lights On | ★★★★ | Golden Goose Theatre | October 2020
The 39 Steps | ★★★ | The Maltings | October 2020
Visitors | ★★★½ | Online | October 2020
Eating Myself | ★★★★ | Online | November 2020
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