Jun 7, 20244 min read

Review: Drag Baby (The Pleasance)

Review by Sam Waite

⭐️⭐️⭐️

For decades, centuries really, the assumption was that being a homosexual meant forgoing marriage, children, and any number of “normal” rites of passage. Even now, with mounting evidence to the contrary in the shape of happily married same-sex couples, and of countless children adopted by same-sex families and by single parents, it can be difficult to move past the things you have been told can’t happen for you – but in Grace Carroll’s Drag Baby, playing at The Pleasance after a 2021 run at the King’s Head Theatre, an opportunity to go through one of these all-important rites presents itself.

Dan is a drag performer preparing to be observed by the producers of a major drag-themed TV series (no, not that one) and is hoping to leave behind the dingy club, even ready to step away from his much younger friend, avant-garde drag artist Nathan. Dan’s life becomes more complicated when Sally re-enters his life – his ex-girlfriend of 15 years prior, she has come to ask him to help herself and her girlfriend, Sandra, have a baby. With the chance to live some of the life he’d tried to years before, and Nathan making his stance against the endeavour crystal clear, Dan rekindles a lifelong friendship while debating a decision that could alter the course of several lives.

Dan is play by Stephen Cheriton, who also performs under their drag persona, Orla Nothin’. They obviously bring a background in drag to the character, feeling right at home with the onstage changes and delivering some killer lip-syncs to Dolly Parton… although the less said about Dan’s speaking voice for Dolly, the better. There’s a real desperation to Cheriton’s performance, letting us in on Dan’s desire to have something he thought he never would long before the script introduces the idea. Even with the TV aspirations, Dan obviously finds it hard to comprehend just how badly he wants things, and Cheriton plays the combination of neurosis and drive just right. Late in the play, Chertion has some particularly poignant moments with Amelia Parillon’s Sandra – a fine actor, Parillon sadly has little to do, and her too-brief appearance doesn’t make enough use of her obvious talent.

Nicole Evans drips with anxiety as Sally, immediately hesitant in the way she approaches life, and lacking any real conviction in any choice but having Dan as her baby’s father. The obvious chemistry between Evans and Cheriton helps immensely in selling their long history and years-long estrangement, and Evans’ performance quickly makes it clear Sally is a great friend to go out with, but a bit of a mess if you peel back even a single layer. Olivia Heggs, acting as both movement and intimacy director, does particularly stellar work with Evans, working with her to create clear nervous energy in her fiddling and re-arranging her hair, and seemingly always needing to not quite be present in the moment she is living.

The strongest performance, however, comes courtesy of Ché as drag up-and-comer Nathan. Not only are Ché’s drag performances, used as segues through the hour and change runtime, dynamic and exciting – more stellar work from Heggs – but their acting is richly textured and always driven by a clear emotion. Ché perfectly embodies the scene-stealing Nathan, a young performer overcompensating for their troubled childhood and home-life that their confidence becomes stratospheric the moment they are in a safer space. Equal parts a comedic force and a dramatic powerhouse, Ché milks the role for every drop of potential, revealing a fully-realised character whose briefly implied backstory lives freely in their work.

While Carroll’s dialogue is believable, peppered with just enough jokes and the right amount of shade between friends, there is one glaring issue with the story – it’s never really clear why Dan is so beloved by those around him. Yes, he’s affable and friendly, but the plot hinges on two of these characters having long-standing feelings for him, and I never came to understand why. Still, despite my struggles to follow the emotions’ reasoning, I was thoroughly impressed with the pacing and clarity of the storytelling – I may not get what is so special about Dan, but it was always clear what impact these long-held devotions had on the characters and actors from start to finish.

Likewise, director Joseph Winer does a fine job of shaping believable and history-rich performances and makes a good effort towards selling the decade-long infatuation with just how pleading Sally can become. It’s always clear not only how Dan’s would-be flames are affected by their attachment to him, but how difficult he finds managing their feelings and doubts alongside his own. With the action taking place entirely on Lu Herbert’s deliberately cramped, realistically-cluttered dressing room set, the intimacy of the performances and the careful direction of the piece helps us to realise how insular and small this story is, as well as how grand and all-encompassing it feels from within.

An unashamedly queer story, told with strong performers and a real understanding of its setting, Drag Baby has a great deal going for it, but somehow failed to make a deeper connection. While not all art needs to make a connection, this is a play built around real, deeply-held feelings and it felt a shame that these, while clear within the performance, didn’t always extend beyond the Pleasance’s stage. Still, Drag Baby is a largely winning production and a great example of how accessible and relatable queer storytelling can be. During Pride Month, that’s more than enough to earn a firm recommendation.