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A drag queen emerges from a curtain into a tiny dressing room, indifferent to the applause of an appreciative and unseen audience. It’s just another night treading the boards for Lady Christina, this time in an undistinguished venue in Wolverhampton.
We don’t get to see Lady Christina’s act. Instead, as he winds down after his show, we hear a personal and, at times, moving story about the real-life Chris and his battles with identity, in particular with his estranged father who was unable to accept his son’s homosexuality. Chris talks to him through his reflection in a mirror, pouring out his frustrations at a lack of contact and acknowledgement and how it affected his parents’ relationship.
For Chris, Lady Christina is more than an alter-ego he has created for the stage; she provides another personality for the one he struggles to understand. Staring at himself in the mirror, he says: “Make-up, it’s like camouflage for who we are… with make-up I become the person I was born to be.”
Fringe First winner Moj Taylor, who was mentored in a BBC competition by Mark Dolan and Jasper Carrott, plays the role with a personal belief in Andy Moseley’s excellent 50-minute monologue.
On one level it is a tale of indignation and anger at the world, his own family and community who fail to cope with those who are different. It is also an exploration of the issues of identity that can affect all of us, and how we want to be perceived.
Make-up, The Wee Coo, Underbelly, George Square, 12-29 August (not 15)
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