That Girl vs The World, Brockley Jack Studio Theatre Review
Written by Penny for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
In February 2023, the Honor Oak pub in South East London made headline news when far right groups turned up to protest at children being put at risk on its premises. And what was that risk? Drag Story Time. A performer in a colourful, potentially glittery, costume telling stories to children with the aim to both entertain them and show any kids who were feeling sad about being “different” that being different is absolutely fine.
The drag performer was That Girl, she loves reading and writing books, and, using the talent honed in her MA in Musical Theatre, she loves sharing stories about kindness with children. In That Girl vs The World, written and performed by That Girl’s creator George Lester, we learn about how a local community came together to stand up to hate, along with a bit of That Girl’s origin story, some fabulous homage to Mother Monster (Gaga) and other pop princesses, and plenty of glittery costumes.
Director Luke Adamson is also responsible for the video design and this is impressively slick. A theatre dressing room is on a screen at the back of the stage, with the traditional mirror with lights around it. In this mirror, That Girl’s “intrusive thoughts” in the form of drag alter ego Intrudi appear, allowing for this one man show to take on a conversational style as Intrudi challenges and reads That Girl, drawing out her very real fear about the abuse and threats received on social media as a result of the misinformation spread about her storytelling sessions.
The first act sees Lester putting on make up, in the background is a constant sound of angry voices – just loud enough to be unnerving but not so loud as to distract from the action. The use of sound and lighting, designed by JLA Productions, is very effective throughout. The show opens with an impressive sequence of lip syncing, covering icons from Judy Garland to Adele, Ru Paul to Will and Grace’s Karen Walker. Lester talks about how Drag Race was his gateway drug into drag and name checks the drag queens and kings who have inspired him, encouraging the audience to get behind their local drag performers.
As well as being a lip sync assassin, Lester is also a fantastic singer, demonstrating his love of pop princesses through performing snatches of songs from the likes of Whitney Houston, Madonna and Britney Spears, but arranged as sad songs rather than the up tempo pop bops they were originally. These glimpses into Lester’s performance skills as That Girl the Drag Queen are polished, laugh out loud funny and hugely entertaining. It’s impossible not to smile, and this makes the hatred that comes her way even more shocking.
In a show about storytelling, it’s apt that Lester shares a little about how special books are to him, talking about the authors he loves. He credits David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy for saving his life when he was at university and feeling like he didn’t want to carry on any more, hated himself, and hated being gay. It’s a powerful reminder of how important books can be, not only to help you escape but also to help you find out and love who you are.
The second act opens with Lester in full drag as That Girl, belting out “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” before recounting the events at the Honor Oak Pub. His delivery is full of self-deprecating humour but does not shy away from or minimize the genuine fear that he felt with the online abuse, death threats and even a bomb threat to the pub. Apparently a drag queen telling stories was more dangerous to children than the possibility of a bomb going off.
He adeptly addresses the “fears” of the protestors by performing some short speeches from Shakespeare’s female characters and then a comedy routine from a panto. In Shakespeare’s time female roles were played by men and the man dressed as a panto dame is a much loved British tradition. Neither of these are considered a threat to children. He talks about Tom Hardy and Regé-Jean Page reading stories on CBeebies – two grown men of whom, with a quick google, you can find naked photos. But they are not considered a threat to children. This helps bring home what we all know – the “fears” are all based on homophobia. It’s twenty years since Section 28 was repealed and disgusting that attitudes like this still exist.
But, while this story could focus on bigotry and hate, Lester goes on to talk about how the local community organised a counter-protest to the bigots, supporting the pub, That Girl, and the families who attended the storytelling events. And this sums up the message of the play – community is everything. Lester found friendship and family in both the drag community and his local one. He leaves us with a powerful message of hope, that by standing together hate will never win.
It’s an uplifting, emotional and ultimately celebratory evening – even cynical Intrudi up on the screen joins in That Girl’s barnstorming finale. Leaving the theatre, I go past the Honor Oak pub, it’s just down the road from the Jack Studio Theatre, and I feel grateful that performers like That Girl are able to bring so much joy into people’s lives.
Produced by The Bridge House Theatre, That Girl vs The World plays at the Jack Studio Theatre until 1st June 2024.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
