Theatre review: Sound of the Underground

Defying easy categorisation, Sound of the Underground, created by writer Travis Alabanza and director Debbie Hannan, mixes scripted theatre with drag cabaret on the Royal Court's main stage. Alabanza has brought together eight drag performers from the underground club scene to throw together a messy evening - but one whose underlying concerns are clear. CHIYO, Lilly SnatchDragon, Ms Sharon Le Grand, Mwice Kavindele as Sadie Sinner The Songbird, Rhys Hollis as Rhys’ Pieces, Sue Gives A Fuck and Wet Mess begin by introducing themselves. The show has factored in the fact that Tammy Reynolds as Midgitte Bardot's disabilities will sometimes mean they can't appear, so at some performances, like tonight, there's a stand-in: Namely their pre-recorded dialogue and a cardboard cut-out.

Next up there's a parody of the kitchen sink dramas the venue made famous, a surreal scene of long pauses and meaningful stirring of cups of tea, in a hyper-realistic modern kitchen full of people in inch-thick makeup, demonic contanct lenses and platform heels.

Eventually this set is deconstructed around them, leading to a club setting for the second act, which involves a cabaret night where each of the performers showcases their talent. Sue Gives A Fuck is the emcee for this, and their introductions have a running theme of them being a centuries-old queer elder who's seen the UK drag scene from the days of the molly houses to today, and hasn't seen as much change as they'd like. Despite this chaotic structure the anger underneath Alabanza's show, and its targets, are clear from the off.

There's one very specific target and a wider issue around them: The kitchen sink play sees the cast meet up to plot the assassination of RuPaul, for homogenising most people's idea of what drag is, profiting from it at the expense of grass-roots performers, and making the art form so much about spectacular looks that it's become prohibitively expensive to put together a costume. (Having said that there are plenty of showstopping outfits - Rosie Elnile and Max Johns are the designers but I imagine the performers have more than the usual amount of say in the costume area.) It's tongue in cheek of course but there's a genuine point here - I've found Drag Race so oversaturated in the last few years that I've lost any excitement for it, and when drag fatigue finally sets in RuPaul can frack off to his ranch, but the people who rely on drag brunches and hen parties for their paycheques are the ones who will suffer.

On a wider point, Sound of the Underground is concerned with the more general appropriation of drag into the wider culture, including queens appearing in advertising, while this loud celebration of the culture doesn't extend to their day-to-day lives: Some of the cast are trans or non-binary, and the adulation they get in a show doesn't stop the abuse they get going home. And going wider still, the show is concerned with underfunding and underappreciation of the arts in general - the low weekly wage they're getting paid is regularly referenced, but they make it clear this is nothing to do with drag, and is what most people in theatre get paid.

So it's a polemic, but at least it doesn't pretend otherwise, and the angry speeches are interrupted by entertaining and frankly bizarre acts, like Wet Mess (whose look is basically "If Michelle Terry played Pennywise") wandering around the stage tied into a bin liner, Ms Sharon Le Grand delivering an operatic version of "The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum,)" or Lilly SnatchDragon doing a burlesque strip dressed like a cross between a cowgirl and Ursula the Sea Witch. It's a mess with a message, and freakishly entertaining with it.

Sound of the Underground by Travis Alabanza and Debbie Hannan is booking until the 25th of February at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Downstairs.

Running time: 2 hours 2 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Helen Murray.