TESTO

Purcell Room

★★★

“pushes the boundaries, defies expectations and refuses to conform”

Award winning drag artist, Wet Mess, closes the 2025 tour of their first full length solo show, ‘TESTO’, in London. Dismantling the boundaries of gender, transition, performance and more, this surrealist fever dream is as cocky as it is vulnerable. Self-described as “horny for your confusion”, the abstraction and pacing do lose me in places. However, the work remains provocative, inventive and daringly experimental – the kind of theatre we need more of.

Out of a green haze, the words ‘tell us about a dream’ glow red before taking us on an erotic journey involving butter that sets the tone for the evening. ‘TESTO’ explores transmasculinity in a dreamlike structure, weaving searching questions and real life interviews with movement and lip syncs. Themes surface in waves, some provocative, some reflective, others more ordinary. Only it’s not a dream.

Created by Wet Mess and produced by Metal & Water (Nancy May Roberts & Lucia Fortune Ely), ‘TESTO’ is anarchic and affecting. Beneath the swagger and spectacle lies a yearning to be seen, with all the contradictions and mixed emotions visibility entails. The closing sequence cycles the words ‘you are afraid but awake,’ anchoring the surreal in stark reality. Wet Mess also fulfils one interviewee’s wish to be mundane by fashioning a sofa from all that’s been discarded and cracking a beer. That said, it isn’t always layered, such as the giant gender sausages and defiant nude lip sync of Loreen’s ‘Euphoria’. Some of the more surreal sections elude me entirely – I’m looking at you butter bath. The pacing also falters: most sections linger a beat too long and a couple of passages seem to run out of development, creating gaps in momentum.

Wet Mess’ movement is an almost continuous thread, marked by strong shapes, intriguing lines and bursts of frenetic energy. However, it feels surprisingly restrained in places. The surreal butter dream, for instance, doesn’t lead into a dynamic grand entrance but some slightly anticlimactic swaggering. The sequence of jerking and humping risks becoming repetitive after a while. Though perhaps this is a deliberate subversion of expectations.

Wet Mess delivers an arresting performance, brimming with cockiness yet tempered by rawness and vulnerability. It is an assured, literally bare all display marked by precise lip syncs, strong movement and polished delivery. The lip syncing itself is cleverly varied, avoiding predictability, with controversial recordings sharpening the piece’s edge.

Ruta Irbīte’s set design is striking: a vulva like red curtain gives way to a phallic catwalk. Oversized sausages playfully suggest symbols of gender identity.

Baby’s evocative sound design weaves voices, vocalisations, synth and textured noise into a distinctive soundscape that shapes the atmosphere of each section and underscores the deeper messages.

Joshie Harriette’s lighting design conjures dreamlike illusions through deft combinations of smoke and light. Inventive spotlight positioning creates striking contrasts between light and shadow, while bursts of flashing intensify key moments.

Lambdog1066’s costume design is artful and layered, opening with a high fashion boxing cape – reclaiming a traditionally masculine symbol – and closing with a curtain repurposed as a robe – underscoring the interplay between spectacle and intimacy. Ultimately, the stripping away of all clothing functions as a powerful rejection of gender conformity.

‘TESTO’ pushes the boundaries, defies expectations and refuses to conform. But does it work as a cohesive show? I’m less sure. Still, that uncertainty doesn’t diminish its impact and the spectacle is worth witnessing, even if we never get to the bottom of the butter.

TESTO

Purcell Room

Reviewed on 28th November 2025

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Lesley Martin

Previously reviewed at Southbank Centre venues:

THE BRIDE AND THE GOODNIGHT CINDERELLA | ★★★★ | September 2025

NATURE THEATER OF OKLAHOMA: NO PRESIDENT | ★★★ | July 2025

AN ALPINE SYMPHONY | ★★★★ | February 2025

THE EMPLOYEES | ★★★★★ | January 2025

THE CREAKERS | ★★★★ | December 2024

DUCK POND | ★★★★ | December 2024

TESTO

★★★★

“a gorgeous revival that succeeds in bringing a fresh perspective on a classic play”

Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is an iconic play that will always divide critical opinion. Many claim it to be Williams’ best work so it can be hard to adapt such a piece whose text is already so beloved. Yet Jay Miller is fearless in his contemporary approach to theatre making and this play is no different.

The Glass Menagerie follows the narration of Tom Wingfield (Tom Varey) as he recalls the last few weeks of his time living with his Mother, Amanda (Sharon Small), and sister, Laura (Eva Morgan). During this time Amanda is on a tiresome search to find Laura a husband, given her lack of other prospects due to dropping out of business school. Luckily, Tom brings home his colleague Jim (Jad Sayegh) for dinner. However all is not what it seems with Jim, and what proceeds may break Laura’s heart.

The play opens with Tom’s introductory monologue and makes use of the distinctions of setting in the text with the actual staging. There’s music in the background, an image of the moon looms over the stage and the entire room is hazy like a distant memory. It’s an excellent introduction to Tom as a narrator, which continues perfectly throughout. Throughout Act One there are scene changes that reflect Tom jumping through memories, for example when Amanda is on the phone selling magazines to various people. Here the set (Cécile Trémolières) and lighting (Sarah Readman) work perfectly together to create different spaces of the otherwise very intimate space to create these time jumps. Tom is often both in the action as it happens and commenting on it. It is clear throughout that even though we may watch him in the scenes, he is still very much on the outside – reflecting how much Tom feels like an outlier from the very family and social path he has been given in life.

The performances in this show are spectacular throughout. Sharon Small portrays the matriarchal Amanda with a commanding yet sympathetic spirit which allows the audience to identify with her good intentions. Tom Varey is incredibly succinct and whole in his characterisation of Tom and I often thought he must have been having a lot of fun while playing such a rollercoaster of a character. Eva Morgan triumphs in the timid, shy sensibilities of Laura but still relishes in her youthful joy and curiosity for her interests. It’s a beautiful portrayal in what can be a highly misunderstood and challenging role. And Jad Sayegh finds the perfect comedic beats throughout his small time in the action. Sayegh is used throughout Act One as a symbol, often stalking in the background. Tom describes him in the text as “the long-delayed but always expected something that we live for”. Sayegh stares at the action, waiting for the perfect moment to join, wearing a bright yellow spot suit-like attire (a unique choice from Lambdog1066).

There were moments where the technical choices were a bit imposing such as the use of strobe lighting and flashes throughout which were a little disorientating, but luckily they were used for less than ten seconds each time.

Overall, The Glass Menagerie at The Yard Theatre is a gorgeous revival that succeeds in bringing a fresh perspective on a classic play, finding the perfect balance between fast paced time jumps and wonderful dialogue that is given the space to breathe. A fantastic show to end on before The Yard closes ahead of reopening next year in its new purpose built home. I cannot wait to see what they bring to the new space if this is anything to go by.

Tag Archives: Lambdog1066

TESTO

★★★

Purcell Room

TESTO

Purcell Room

★★★

“pushes the boundaries, defies expectations and refuses to conform”