AN EVENING of cabaret showcasing LGBTQ+ performers was on display at Reading Repertory Theatre on Friday, November 4, with Squids In.
The event was a collaboration between Reading-based theatre company A Girl Called Stephen and Double Okay, an arts collective which works with venues and organisations to bring queer spaces and events to Reading.
Host and drag king Richard Energy kicked the night off, bringing their pin-sharp comedy and performance chops to warm up the crowd.
They were followed by the Drag Queen of Dancehall and Miss Drag UK 21/22 runner-up, Candy Campbell, who performed deep, personal poetry that explored their Jamaican heritage and their relationships with identity.
John Hoggett performed a humorous prose piece looking at the humorous side of using queer dating apps, including a particularly funny diatribe about the difficulty that having troubled skin can lead to.
London’s Bovril Lavigne was next up, portraying a copy of Take a Break magazine which was looking to befriend LGBTQ+ publications, taking a rejection by PinkNews particularly hard.
She also portrayed a pair of undergarments as they followed a journey of being bought and discarded by Madonna in a viral social media post.
Stand-up The Mollusc Dimension rounded out the first half of the night’s acts with a lampoon of the treatment of trans and Asian-British people in news media.
Atena began the second half with an earnest performance of Holy Ghost, by BØRNS, quickly followed by the semi-verbal, surrealist comedy of Podge.
Podge’s exploration of space with the use of swimming goggles and a decorated bin bag saw the audience participate with a series of spoken sounds which were woven into the performance.
Milly Rose made their stand-up debut at the event, exploring the tribulations of dating as a bisexual person in a stand-out first performance.
Candy Campbell returned for an accomplished, dynamic lipsync, followed by a sweltering burlesque routine by Romeo De La Cruz which brought the show to a steamy conclusion.
Squids In demonstrated some of the very best of queer performance, celebrating not only the diversity of the performers but also the range of acts and talent.
For more information about Double Okay, visit: wearedoubleokay.wordpress.com
For more information about A Girl Called Stephen, visit: www.agirlcalledstephen.com/
