If you love a tale filled with princess, mermaids, magical fairies and swashbucklers, then Dizney in Drag might be the Fringe World show to put at the top of your list for things to see at the 2024 festival.
Dizney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody is a fantasy-driven, tongue-in-cheek comedy show that warps the classic ‘Hero’s Journey’ into a modern fairy-tale of self-discovery.
A wide-eyed and inexperienced protagonist sets out on a quest to find their ‘one true love’. Encountering some of your all-time fairytale favourites (…like never seen before) along the way, they teach the young hero precious gems of present-day wisdom.
The show promises to cover hard-hitting, hilarious, and positive lessons on love, respect, self-discovery, healthy masculinity, periods, and sex positivity with a healthy dose of nostalgia and a side-serving of the ‘feel-goods’.
The show is created by The Hairy Godmothers and performing and founding member Own Merriman shared that the show came together quite organically.
“Creating the group was a really organic process. I just sent a message to a bunch of fun people that I would love to work with and said ‘Hey, do you want to create a fringe show?’ Then we met up and threw some ideas around and the rest was history.
“We discussed quite early on that we would like to try to have an even stake in the creative and production process. We don’t have a dedicated director, we all get a say in how it comes together. Which can be tense at times, with too many cooks in thekitchen, but we are always super proud of the quality that comes out of it.
“I think this structure of shared-vision and collaborative-critique has been the key to the final quality of our productions.” Merriman said.
Colleague Alex Nissen, who performs the roles of Areola and Teacup in the show, said the whole crew were really into Disney movies in their youth.
“We all grew up being immersed in Disney movies and loving the stories. As an adult though, I found myself questioning what the notion of a ‘one true love’ meant to me.” Nissen said.
“We wanted to explore this idea of love and reposition it as self-acceptance through the lens of some of our favourite characters, reimagining them in the modern world.”
Jae West, the third founding member of the troupe said the show allowed them to explore some very relevant themes.
We all grew up being immersed in Disney movies and loving the stories. As an adult though, I found myself questioning what the notion of a ‘one true love’ meant to me.
“We wanted to explore this idea of love and reposition it as self-acceptance through the lens of some of our favourite characters, reimagining them in the modern world!” West said.
Disney in Drag: Once Upon a Parody will be featured at The Hairy Godmothers Fantasia Hub on various dates from 19th January until 28th January 2024. Tickets at Fringe World.
Graeme Watson
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