Everyone's Favourite Christmas Drag Act

With the current economic climate theatregoers  play it safe and often aren't brave enough to risk forking out money on a fringe show they haven't heard of. Preferring instead to play it safe on something that they know they will enjoy… Early on in my time writing for A Younger Theatre, I realised that I wanted to go against this current trend, broaden my theatrical horizons and see hidden gems were on offer. So last Christmas this involved me swapping a traditional Panto, for a yuletide Drag Queen…

Downstairs at the Soho Theatre plays host to David Hoyle and Richard Thomas: Merrie Hell, an alternative Christmas cabaret starring David Hoyle. Hoyle,  a well known drag act on the cabaret circuit, sings 12dark but comedic songs about his various gripes with society, all of which are accompanied on the piano by Richard Thomas. Hoyle’s cynical attitude towards Christmas makes Scrooge look like the poster boy for festive merriment. Hoyle describes his personal experience of Christmas as being filled with loneliness, debt and disappointment. His unconventional view of the festive season is mirrored by his choice of Christmas tree decorations; he adorns his tree with dolls heads, knives and condoms. 

Although the title of the piece suggests that the show will centre around Hoyle’s strong dislike of Christmas, this is just one of the many topics that features. Hoyle and his accompanist Thomas’s  satirical duets also tackle their grievances regarding: the military, suicide, politics and religion. Merrie Hell makes its strong views about serious subjects easier for the audience to digest by setting them to upbeat cabaret tunes. In one of the songs Hoyle despairs that today’s society is more likely to know who Justin Bieber is than who the civil rights activist Rosa Parkes was. 

The onstage rapport between Hoyle and Thomas works really well, and their dialogue between numbers provides the piece with a narrative. Thomas’s upbeat but understated persona provides the perfect foil for Hoyle’s over the top theatricality and grimaces. Throughout the show Hoyle’s energy never flags, he is constantly flirting, spouting innuendos and one point he even tap dances. The song Crying at Christmas is the only ballad in the work and with it the whole tone of the show changes, Hoyle sits on stool beneath a bright spotlight and for the first time this outspoken character appears vulnerable. He sings a heartfelt song about a time when he wasn’t sure if he was emotionally strong enough to make it from Christmas to New Year. This fragility presents Hoyle in a more human light, and makes the serious point that for some people Christmas is a difficult and lonely time of the year. 

Previous fans of Thomas’s work (namely the controversial Jerry Springer: The Opera) will not be disappointed. In this production, Thomas and Alethea Wiles’s lyrics are witty and controversial. These lyrics coupled with Hoyle’s inimitable delivery are an electrifying combination. Hoyle’s onstage presence is captivating and by the end of the cabaret his persuasive nature has the entire audience singing along to a song entitled I Renounce My Religion. Personally I didn’t leave the Soho Theatre feeling downbeat about Christmas, but it did cause me to reflect on the darker side of the holiday.