The Garrick reopens post-pandemic with a new play as a vehicle for two of Ru Paul’s Drag Race stars, Courtney Act and Monet X Change to strut their stuff on the mainstream West End stage with an overlay of Potted Panto at other times to use the socially distanced capacity more effectively. It’s a bold move and its commercial success in bringing these two talented performers to a wider audience will depend as much on whether London remains Tier 2 for Covid restrictions as on the show itself.
The plot, as far as there is one, is a cross-dressing of Agatha Christie’s book and play “and then there were none” (a story that itself had to change its name to be politically correct) and the breakout commercial success of “the play that goes wrong”. No doubt the marketeers were thrilled by both the title “Deathdrop”, a reference to particular drag artiste manoeuvre and the tag line “Dragatha Christie murder mystery” which should leave the audience in no doubt what to expect from the show.
The programme notes highlight that drag has been part of the mainstream West End stage for a long time and sets up comparisons with the great stars that have gone before such as Danny La Rue, “La Cage Aux Folles”, Lily Savage, Edna Turnball in “Hairspray” and “Kinky Boots” all of which I have seen and enjoyed in shows with high production values and witty clever scripts. “Deathdrop” does not pretend to have either and revels in its cheap-looking set, boudoir pink lighting, and a broad basic camp humour verging on slapstick. There is a running gag about diarrhoea (which prevents Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer appearing), dated references to cheese and pineapple hedgehogs, Fab ice lollies, and Vienetta and bad taste gags about Jim’ll fix it and Rolf Harris. It is after all set in 1991!
