Join the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK for an evening of endless eleganza extravaganza as this brand-new tour takes in 19 theatres and venues across England, Scotland and Wales including a date at Manchester Opera House on February 12.
Acclaimed for their amazing production values, expect the unexpected in this glittering tour featuring UK Season 2 Finalists Tayce, Bimini Bon Boulash, Dundee’sEllie Diamond and WINNERLawrence Chaney from Glasgow, along with stars from Drag Race UK.
Ben Hatton, Director of Theatre Touring for Cuffe and Taylor, said: “We are thrilled to be working with the Voss Events Team for what will be Drag Race’s biggest ever UK theatre tour.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race is an exciting show and is always a huge hit so we look forward to presenting a series of outrageously entertaining shows.”
Tickets start at £35 and there are exclusive VIP options where guests can enjoy a private meet and greet with the queens before the show!
Created by the same team behind the recent reimagining of Jonathan Coe’s What a Carve Up! which quickly became a standout piece of 2020, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an impressive retelling of Oscar Wilde’s famously tragic tale.
In this modern take, gone is the classic portrait in favour of the ultimate smartphone filter, wholly irresistible to wannabee influencer, Dorian Gray; whose obsession with social media adoration becomes his all-consuming downfall.
Writer Henry Filloux-Bennett’s decision to reimagine Gray as a snapchatting, insta-loving, subscriber-hungry, Youtuber is inspired, tapping into a digital world so many of us spend far more time transfixed by than we would care to admit. The guarantee of popularity, opportunity, and a seemingly endless stream of likes is just too much to resist.
Interviewer Stephen Fry attempts to piece together how Gray’s untimely demise came about via detailed Zoom interviews paired with atmospheric staged flashbacks, while Lady Narborough (Joanna Lumley) largely navigates us through the story.
In addition to Fry and Lumley the all-star cast of Alfred Enoch, Emma McDonald, Russell Tovey and Fionn Whitehead add depth and quality to this haunting production.
The dark side of social media becomes a strong thread as the stark reality of internet trolling and cancel culture claims the life of Sibyl Vane, while the pandemic is cleverly weaved through the narrative as Gray’s life behind his screen begins to spiral so does his need to hide his face from the real world via a mask, an attempt to hide the physical manifestations of his ugly actions.
Gray’s declining mental health dangerously threatening to leak through his picture-perfect profile. Gray’s transition from fresh-faced blogger to anxiety ridden sunken-eyed social media monster is both exceptional and utterly terrifying.
Inspired and chillingly brilliant this production captivates entirely.
Over the last year, the majority of us have had spare time on our hands. Some of us have got fitter, some of us have tackled the bookshelves that feature prominently on our zoom quiz backgrounds, and some of us have done sweet FA. However, one thing I can pretty much guarantee, is that at some point over the last 12 months most of us will have been sucked into a good TV murder mystery. It may have been one of Netflix’s countless true crime documentaries, the BBC’s Line of Duty, or ITV’s The Bay; at some point we’ll have been shocked or screaming at the telly, uttering that immortal line, “I knew it was him!”
Well the good people at Unsolved Online Creations, have tapped into our blood lust with their first offering, The Lollipop Man? The brainchild of Stacey Harcourt and John O’Neill, this interactive, online murder mystery, provides something a little different to ease the lock down blues while putting our newly found amateur sleuthing skills to good use.
Set at the turn of the millennium in Salford, local lollipop man Martin Morris, is found brutally murdered by the Irwell, with a list of subjects as long as his luminous stick. Suspects include, the dead man’s daughter, Kayla Morris (Stacey Harcourt), or maybe local thug, Paul Cheadle, (John O’Neill) or could it be a lifelong friend of Martin’s, Mandy Newton (Fiona Boylan)? These are just three of the eight suspects.
Each suspect gives their accounts of this fateful night, spread over several nights on the Unsolved Online Creations, Youtube channel, (https://bit.ly/3bsOWYj) these come in the form of short police interrogation interviews. In addition, new evidence is also released containing clues (or red herrings) as to whom the culprit might be.
This is a fun, innovative way to spend some time each week. Like any good murder-mystery, it keeps you on your toes. We’re three weeks in and I’m still non the wiser. You can pick it up any time, as all videos are on Youtube: I only started last week and am hooked.
It is a bold attempt to do something fresh. The performances are solid throughout, nothing fancy or OTT, just believable and intriguing enough to draw you in. The police questions that move the action forward can be a little jarring at times, and I wish more time and care had been spent on how they are delivered, but this is a minor quibble for what is an ambitious project, which on the whole wants to create conversation, debate and, most of all, a community and the chance to use the internet for something other than a zoom quiz!
Opening Night 