As a first-time drag attendee, the title of Dragtime! Presents: ​​Curiouser and Curiouser could not have better summarised my anticipation. My slight confusion about what I was going to watch was quickly addressed by one of our lovely emcees, Magic Dyke, in their opening monologue. Upon establishing there was not a single cis straight woman in the audience and receiving a muted response from the handful of cis straight men, Magic Dyke, tongue firmly planted in cheek, reassured those straight men not to worry about feeling out of place for that feeling is a critical part of the queer experience. They went on to explain to any first-time attendees that we were in for quite the show, as we were to travel to Drag Wonderland. This certainly undersold the showcase of fantastic drag and the huge variety of acts that awaited us.

“Packed full of fantastic acts and a wide diversity of talent”

With force and might akin to Moses coming down from Mt Sinai, Dragtime! presented ten acts over the course of the evening, each one guiding us further down the rabbit hole (an innuendo the performers did not overlook). The variety of the acts was spectacular including pole dancing, floor work, stand-up comedy, and, of course, lip-syncing. From their drag names, some of the acts were more surprising than others. PG Tits opened the show with a fabulous dance routine which did indeed incorporate tea and tits, though probably not of a PG rating.

Other performers adopted more mysterious names, like The Thing of Hearts whose act, it turned out, existed somewhere between a strip tease and a light show. The Thing of Hearts demonstrated how these two forms of entertainment could be combined in an effortless manner, delivering a spectacular routine. One drag king chose the royal life with the name Prince Charles, and performed some of the most dynamic lip-syncing I’ve ever seen to Justin Bieber’s ‘Boyfriend’.

It would be amiss not to mention, alongside the overall outstanding dance ability, that in Drag Wonderland we also stumbled across some brilliant comedians. King Hoberon delivered a side-splitting performance of a poem to their mummy about their dislike for her new boyfriend Rupert. Similarly Big C, a mild and timid character, kindly shared with the audience a compilation of songs he had written about girls he’d fallen in love with in his book club. These little tunes were stocked full of puns that had the audience in hysterics.

Whilst the acts were all as well polished as the dancing pole, some of the compering was rough around the edges. Slightly underprepared for improvisation or ad-libbing when stage clearing took longer than expected, the energy from our hosts Magic Dyke and Polonia Kowalski did falter at times. The chemistry of the duo was deliberately confrontational, which mostly translated into comic moments, but occasionally slipped into awkwardness. But, as Magic Dyke themselves admitted: “We have three more nights to fix this”, and there’s no doubt these talented performers will. All other aspects of the production were expertly managed by the stage management team, with Derek Penny (Stage Manager) hearteningly receiving as much love from the audience as many of the drag artists themselves.

Overall, Dragtime! Presents: ​​Curiouser and Curiouser is packed full of fantastic acts and a wide diversity of talent. Though there were a couple of opening night hitches, the drag kings’ and queens’ performances made for a defiant and riotous show celebrating queer culture. I, for one, will be placing Dragtime! shows in the ‘not to miss’ category going forwards and would urge you, especially if you are a cis straight woman (apparently the most underrepresented minority at Dragtime), to do the same.

Dragtime! Presents: Curiouser and Curiouser is at the ADC Theatre from Wednesday 1st to Saturday 4th March, 11pm.