Review: SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND, Royal Court Theatre
Photo credit: Faith Aylward
Audience members will notice that there is a change in the tannoy system at the Royal Court as we are urged to “stop rolling our fags and get into our seats” ahead of a performance of celebrated theatre maker Travis Alabanza’s new show Sound of the Underground. Before the show even begins, a sense of misrule and naughtiness is established. And then the performers enter.
From all sides of the audience and all levels of the theatre, the stage is flooded with the cast of performers, an array of talent from the British drag scene. Alabanza’s show, co-created with Debbie Hannan, is choppy and cheeky and keeps you on your toes, moving from scripted drama to lip-syncing verbatim theatre to cabaret performances that showcase each individual talent onstage. The basic plot set out in the first act is that a union of drag performers have assembled to plot the death of the infamous RuPaul Charles – renowned fracker, drag mother, and the person responsible for bringing drag to generations of young queers but also, regrettably, generations of hen parties. This plot disbands into delightful chaos and there emerges from the debris, a more nuanced conversation about drag and art and television and theatre.
Sound of the Underground is more than a sequinned spectacle draped in ostrich feathers. This show is a conversation about culture, identity, the value of the performing arts and the importance of nightlife. The entire cast of performers fill the stage with their unique personalities and voices – the real joy of Alabanza’s script is that it lets its characters shine through with their own light.
Once the home of in-yer-face-theatre and still today a creative hub for young and emerging artists, the Royal Court is a good fit for Alabanza and Hannan’s new show which brings the art of British drag out from the sweaty underground and up onto the proscenium. While the performers do take the opportunity to rinse any Kensington locals for some much needed (and well deserved) tips, this production ignores many elements of the local history that feed into the story of drag – the King’s Road was the stomping ground of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren and their punk disciples, we’re a stone’s throw away from Earl’s Court, which was famous for its leather bars! Sound of the Underground chooses instead to lean into the reductive rendering of this London borough as flat, culture-less, character-less and anti-drag.
Sound of the Underground treads a difficult line as it sets about interrogating the mainstream consumption of drag, occasionally veering dangerously close to policing how we receive this artform, something fundamentally opposed to the inclusive, community spirit of drag. There is no resolution to the debate around democratising drag whilst maintaining its punk, rebellious roots, which this production vocalises through vox pops from the cast sharing their personal experience of professional drag.
Most of this discussion pivots around the subject of ‘huns’ (heterosexual, typically white, cis-female fans of drag and consumers of queer culture, usually the hen party-goers) is also a contentious subject. While it’s generally true that they are often the most disrespectful, loud and intrusive audience members at a drag brunch, huns and hags are often exalted by the queer community, and occupy a space a step below the ‘queer icon’ – the Judy Garlands and the Bette Davises of the world. Like many of the ideas raised in Sound of the Underground, this debate is fraught with contradictions, which aren’t entirely ironed out. But this show will keep you talking for hours afterwards and thinking about it well into the next day.
Raucous, sexy, funny and profound – Sound of the Underground is packed full of humour, heart and debate. And at least a couple of renditions of the Girls Aloud track. So everyone’s a winner.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett
Sound of the Underground plays at the Royal Court Theatre until 25 February, with further information here.