Flora Doble Archives - Page 30 of 41

All I Want For Christmas Is Attention

O2 Forum Kentish Town

Reviewed – 2nd December 2019

★★★★★

“one of the most outrageous, campy and risqué seasonal shows of the holiday season, and will no doubt put even the biggest Scrooge in the holiday spirit!”

Rising to fame through their respective successes on season five of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme have teamed up for their second seasonal spectacular. All I Want For Christmas Is Attention has DeLa and Jinkx playing the odd couple, the former hellbent on maintaining the traditions of Christmases past while the latter has a more cynical (and alcohol-focused) approach to the holidays. Through song, dance and innuendo galore, the duo try to work out their differences and discover the true meaning of the festive holidays.

DeLa and Jinkx command the stage and keep the audience engaged throughout the show. The pair’s chemistry is excellent and even slight mistakes or hiccups are dealt with well and played for laughs. The only other character on stage is Nanog, the spirit of DeLa’s late (and slightly racist) Nana who has possessed and speaks through a glass of her famous eggnog. Conversations with Nanog provide some useful breathers for both the audience and the queens as well as practical time for costume changes and stage set-up.

Short infomercial-style videos are played between longer breaks. These show DeLa and Jinkx trying to secure a sponsor for their Christmas show before quickly realising that pretty much every company has blood on its hands. A humorous commentary on consumerist capitalist culture, the videos are also well shot with a clearly high production value.

Parodic songs form the bulk of the show and are as funny as they are clever. DeLa and Jinkx both sing live which is highly appreciated when many drag queens are prone to lip syncing. Songs parodied are both popular Christmas songs and recent chart-toppers. These include a song about being spoiled to the tune of Royals by Lorde, an adaptation of Baby, It’s Cold Outside to become God’s Own Child sung by Mary and the Angel Gabriel and Blame It On The Jews to the music of Lizzo’s Juice. The show closes with a song about how we are all bonded by trauma and stress during the festive period.

Other entertainment includes a comical dance to Sugar Plum Fairy while the pair are dressed as Santa and his sack, and Jinkx sharing ‘holiday snaps’ with the audience which are in fact stills from the 2019 horror film Midsommar about a violent cult.

DeLa and Jinkx wear a fabulous array of costumes. Opening the show in matching red and gold bow dresses, the duo wear everything from a dress that makes DeLa look like a giant floating Santa face, a Menorah-inspired headpiece and Star of David dress, showgirl-style pink sparkly numbers, and a sack that tears away to reveal a Christmas tree dress. You never know what the queens are going to come out in next which makes the performance all the more exciting.

The set is simple with a table with Nanog to the left and another set of table and chairs to the right. The large screen used to project images and play videos hangs above the centre of the stage. Some more Christmas decorations on the stage such as tinsel, fairy lights or even a tree would have given the set an extra tszuj, but the show itself more than makes up for this. The lighting is not particularly noteworthy except some poorly angled and blinding strobe lights that go out into the crowd.

All I Want For Christmas Is Attention is an excellent follow-up to BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon’s highly successful Jesus, Thanks for Everything last year. Their new production is sure to be one of the most outrageous, campy and risqué seasonal shows of the holiday season, and will no doubt put even the biggest Scrooge in the holiday spirit!

Reviewed by Flora Doble

All I Want For Christmas Is Attention

O2 Forum Kentish Town

Last ten shows reviewed by Flora:

Black Chiffon | ★★★★ | Park Theatre | September 2019

Torch Song | ★★★★★ | The Turbine Theatre | September 2019

Art Heist | ★★★½ | New Diorama Theatre | October 2019

Children Of The Quorn | ★★★★★ | Pleasance Theatre | October 2019

Last Orders | ★★★ | Old Red Lion Theatre | October 2019

Smashing It! | ★★ | Bread & Roses Theatre | October 2019

Ugly | ★★★½ | Tristan Bates Theatre | October 2019

Don’t Frighten The Straights | ★★★ | King’s Head Theatre | November 2019

Escape From Planet Trash | ★★★ | Pleasance Theatre | November 2019

Sydney & The Old Girl | ★★★★ | Park Theatre | November 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

Escape From Planet Trash

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed – 21st November 2019

★★★

“combines drag, sci-fi and innuendo galore to create the perfect foil for the abundance of family-friendly shows on for the holidays”

It is the year 2050. Earth is no more and is instead known as Planet Trash, the dumping ground for the entire universe. East London drag queen Ginger Johnson and her 28-year-old son Sonny (David Cumming) are its last survivors and spend their days foraging through rubbish. That is until an impending solar flare threatens to obliterate the planet and a discarded weapon that the Intergalactic Government is desperate to get its hands on. Cue the arrival of the Captain of the Star Corp voyager (Mairi Houston) and the ambiguously gendered Private P. P. Parts (Mahatma Khandi).

Their quest, however, soon turns sour when an army of mutant turkeys decide to seek revenge on the human race for having eaten them at Christmases past. Now, it’s up to Ginger and Sonny to save the day and stop the eradication of mankind. Sink the Pink’s brand-new seasonal production Escape From Planet Trash combines drag, sci-fi and innuendo galore to create the perfect foil for the abundance of family-friendly shows on for the holidays.

Johnson and Cumming are the strongest in their roles, with the former having no trouble working the crowd. The rest of the cast sadly do not always seem sure of themselves or their lines. The plot that is set up in the play’s opening scenes is unfortunately rather quickly forgotten. Loose ends are rife in this production and the solar flare and ever-so-important weapon hardly get a look-in.

There are some moments of serious commentary. The play reflects on the climate crisis and capitalist greed and drag artists Maxi More and Lavinia Co-op join the cast as two dark tourists travelling the galaxy. Silliness however wins out in Escape From Planet Trash but without a solid narrative – which Ginger in fact jokes about the play needing – it is hard to be fully invested.

The set is multi-tiered with characters able to ascend and descend several sets of stairs. This makes for some dynamic visuals even when little else is happening on stage. To the left of the stage, the entrance to a sewer pipe and, above it, the interior of Star Corp’s spaceship. To the right, the tin shack house of Ginger and Sonny complete with rooftop terrace and light-up HOME sign. The centre of the stage sits on a rotating platform which allows for some great reveals such as Lavinia tap dancing as the Johnson’s home spins around. The set did pose a few hiccups including the shack’s door swinging open unexpectedly and revealing actors preparing for the next scene.

The lighting (Clancy Flynn) is solid throughout and used atmospherically. Costumes (Julia Smith) are a lot of fun with Ginger wearing a particularly ostentatious white plastic see through mesh bodysuit with a clear plastic overcoat.

The musical direction (Sarah Bodalbhai) is overall very strong. A rendition of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life from Monty Python’s Life of Brian (which the cast sing to a literal piece of shit played by Lavinia) that ends with a reference to the ‘dis-gus-tang’ video meme is a definite highlight. All the songs are a real blast though the cast do struggle to get the audience to sing along even at moments which beg for it. A finale song would also be good to round off the show in true pantomime fashion.

Escape From Planet Trash is a barrel of laughs and as silly as it is campy. Though the production lacks polish at times, you would be hard-pressed to not enjoy Sink the Pink’s newest endeavour.

Reviewed by Flora Doble

Photography by Ali Wright

Escape From Planet Trash

Pleasance Theatre until 22nd December

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

The Accident Did Not Take Place | ★★ | October 2019

The Fetch Wilson | ★★★★ | October 2019

The Hypnotist | ★★½ | October 2019

The Perfect Companion | ★★★★ | October 2019

The Unseen Hour | ★★★★ | October 2019

Endless Second | ★★★ | November 2019

Heroin(e) For Breakfast | ★★★★★ | November 2019

Land Of My Fathers And Mothers And Some Other People | ★★★★ | November 2019

Madame Ovary | ★★★★★ | November 2019

Wireless Operator | ★★★★ | November 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews