THISISPOPBABY and Panti, 'High Heels in Low Places': National F*&king Treasure

Earlier this year, Panti dragged a debate about homophobia into the public realm. Resisting the pressure of being a LGBT representative, the drag queen returns to form. 

  

Project Arts Centre
Dec 1-6


Earlier this year I wrote about Panti's performances on the Saturday Night Show and her Noble Call. My review of High Heels in Low Places coming up just as soon as I see Madonna's arm ...

Abbey Theatre, 'Twelfth Night': By the Roses of the Spring

A modern telling of Shakespeare's comedy might just break new ground. Photo: Ros Kavanagh.

Abbey Theatre

Apr 30-May 24

My review of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare coming up just as soon as I cross-garter in a fashion you protest ...

Dragging and Derealising the World Onstage

Miss Bunny (left) and Panti Bliss (right) in promotional art for The Panti Show. A nation tunes in to watch a drag queen on television but what exactly is drag?

RTÉ's Saturday Night Show began it's live broadcast on January 11th with presenter Brendan O'Connor introducing the drag queen Panti Bliss. A red curtain rose to reveal a dressing room and the occupant wearing a geisha-like gown, a voluminous blonde wig from Dolly Parton's Heartbreaker days and eyelashes so long they could gouge an eye. 

A voice-over introduces the drag device: the lip sync - a faux pas in musical performance (see Ashlee Simpson) but the basis for the corporeal story-telling of the drag queen. "Brendan O'Connor? Goddamn it, I done it again; I thought this was Brendan O'Carroll's show. What the hell am I going to talk to Brendan O'Connor about?"

THISISPOPBABY, 'All Dolled Up Restitched': High Heels in Low Places

Abbey Theatre, Dublin
July 10-20

My review of All Dolled Up Restitched by Panti coming up just as soon as I'm surrounded by the debris of a destitute transvestite ...