Horror is hard to do on stage. Horror comedy is also very hard to do. A horror comedy one-person show that has a drag queen as main character? We simply had to see for ourselves, and were delighted to discover that Grace Lightning’s show Final Queen is simply incredible.
The show is a horror pastiche that mixes clown, circus and drag to tell a fun yet familiar tale of three drag queens who head out into the Australian outback with the promise of super-stardom and instead end up facing horrible things. We open with Grace (aka Harrison Sweeney) performing their very physically impressive drag-show in Sydney, and then getting the phone call of a life-time from Kylie Minogue. One cannot deny the true queen of Australia, so Grace packs her bags, grabs some friends and its road trip time. A very long trip to the middle of nowhere.
Yes, this is The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert vs every other slasher movie we’ve ever reviewed. And yes, it’s packed with jokes about horror, Australia and Australian horror. And yes, it’s superbly silly, that’s the point. The show is packed with savvy jokes throughout.
Grace performs every single character with the help of some props (mostly wigs), and in addition to the ambitious and slightly dizzy Grace, we meet the rough yet golden Jazz and sexy and snippy Kelly. Each character has their own voice and physical characteristics, and it’s amazing to watch Grace switch between characters as they embody different roles. The humour lands very well and this would be an impressive act just on this alone. But we also have some fantastic acts of physical humour and performance that really land the story. And also some cracking work with hula hoops. Fabulous stuff. The circus work is just staggeringly good.
Final Queen nails the genre. Laugh out loud funny, this is an unstoppable satire that will have you roaring in the aisles. As camp as it is bloody, this is an eye-catching celebration of all things spooky, performed by someone who really loves the genre.
