It’s adult pantomime season again – oh no it’s not! - and with it comes a selection of x-rated jokes, filthy humour and songs a-plenty. This year’s offering from The North East Adult Pantomime, the first adult panto I’ve ever attended, is Snow White and the Seven Drag Queens.
A selection of x-rated jokes, filthy humour and songs a-plenty
The QMU in Glasgow is a strange venue choice (memories of my Freshers’ Week came flooding back). The stage isn’t that big and could barely hold the seven drag queen performers during their opening number – a parody of Ex-Wives from the musical Six. Even so, it’s a great start to the show that had us in stiches, hearing from drag queens with stage names such as Janice Dickinyourson, Dixie Swallows and Orphelia Balls.
Deborah Taylor-Smith filled in for an unwell Scarlett Moffatt as The Wicked Queen, Snow White’s step-mother, with a brilliant performance. "How wicked is she?" I hear you ask. During an onstage conversation when Snow White asked another character why they disliked The Wicked Queen, an audience member shouted out, “Because she’s a cunt!” Ah, Glasgow, never change.
But it’s Celebrity Big Brother Winner David Potts who is the stand out, delivering a fabulously camp, scene-stealing performance as The Wicked Queen’s henchman. Dressed all in black with a tan that would make Donald Trump envious, Potts commands the stage and struts around cracking his whip and screaming obscenities at other characters. It’s just hilarious.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK superstars Michael Marouli and Tomara Thomas are also highlights of the evening. Their chemistry onstage together is impeccable, especially during a scene baking a cake with a man from Amazon (cue every ‘big package’ joke here). It’s clear that they’re true professionals in every sense of the word.
I didn’t quite know what to expect from Snow White and the Seven Drag Queens. The drag community as a whole has just lost a stalwart in the world of British drag – The Vivienne. Because of this, part of me expected this evening to be a more sombre affair than it was. But it was the complete opposite. It was escapism for a few hours. Drag queens came together to do what they do best – perform and entertain. A world without drag would be a less exciting and less joyful world. Hearing the reaction of other audience members on the way out, it seems happiness was radiating throughout the building.
