Drag Queens on Tour in a Fabulous Canadian Play!!

Elizabeth’s Not the Only Queen Touring the Prairies this Summer!!

Watch out!! Run for cover!!  Three outcasts are due in court today!  Their hair is coiffed, their eyelashes glued, their beauty marks meticulously placed.  The tension is unbearable!  What will happen!?  Has Marlene the courage to tell the truth about her past?! Has Judy the presence of mind to recall the sordid details of her childhood?!  Has Lana applied enough makeup to cover her five o’clock shadow?!  Find the answers to these questions and more when these dramatic and voluptuous Drag Queens on Trial take the witness stand this July 5-10 & 12 upstairs at The Roost in Edmonton, Alberta.

These campy Drag Queens on Trial follow in the footsteps of other fabulous female threesomes of our time.  They share the comedic timing of The Golden Girls, the adventurous high-kicks of Charlie’s Angels and the booty shakin’ rhythms of Destiny’s Child, with only three humungous differences…or so they say.  The incomparable class of Marlene Delorme, the sweet naiveté of Judy Goose and the unbridled passion of Lana Lust burst onto the stage in a whirlwind of comedy, music, lights and costumes in this full-scale drag queen extravaganza. 

Despite Drag Queens on Trial’s colourful and light-hearted campiness, it also has a powerful message to deliver.  Perhaps Joan Crawford, as one of our drag queens eloquently points out, put it best saying, “I just want to belong to the human race.”  So do our heroines, but on their own terms.  Now they are on trial to defend their lifestyle, their right to wear a dress, to shave their legs, to be who they want to be and be treated with dignity.  In the face of discrimination, alienated family and AIDS they hold their heads high (with tiaras on top).  They speak on behalf of all misfits among us who follow their hearts in the face of adversity.

Drag Queens on Trial, the landmark 1985 Canadian play, written by outspoken playwright Sky Gilbert, boasts a top-notch, experienced cast of Alberta-grown talent: The Jerk Chicken Club.  Performers Neil James, Andy Jenkins and Jay Whitehead doff their trousers and don tube tops and mini skirts to fill the high heels of these enormously funny, all-too-human characters. 

Drag Queens on Trial plays July 5-10 & 12 nightly at 8pm at The Roost.  Doors open at 7pm. Tickets for Drag Queens on Trial are $10 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at The Roost at 10345 104 Street, or call 426-3150 for more information