Sound of the Underground – Royal Court

‘Sound of the Underground’ by Travis Alabanza [BURGERZ, Before I Step Outside [You Love Me] and co-created by Debbie Hannan [Constellations, The Panopticon] is an angry, ambivalent, and vibrant call to arms in a crisis of money, dignity, culture and community.

This brilliant two act evening of radical art, comprised of some of the brightest stars in the current grass roots drag scene, presents us with these problems and the/a solution- radical art and the rejection of commodification.

After a review style introduction to the show (heavily featuring the excellently crass Midgitte Bardot), we are presented with a one scene play. Informed by the traditional theatre setting and location (the salubrious Sloane Square) the curtain rises to a modern kitchen box set. The play begins: beige, overtly hammy, but with a camp twist that pastiches to perfection the modern British stage drama. After much back and forth, a comically at-tie-ered Ms Sharon Le Grand finally lets us in on the plan- A most excellently iconoclastic of cultural assassinations.

The cast do not hesitate to highlight the disparity between their current situation and their usual gigs, both in location and in financial remuneration.

In every respect, ‘Sound of the Underground’ seeks to break taboos regarding the queer experience. Not just sex and relationships, but how we are able to survive as a community under intense commodification and capitalism, and the realities of living and working in the arts industry.

The issue of fair payment and a reasonable expectation of theatre makers in all areas of the industry has been a hot topic in the last years few years. Campaigns like ‘Reset Better’ that came out of the pandemic brought to the fore the long-standing issue of over work and undervalue of workers within the arts industry. But despite best intentions, a culture of privilege and exclusivity compounded with the cost-of-living crisis is driving theatre makers and creative out of the industry in droves. The company and production face this issue head on, making the production itself a “direct action”. As Hannan notes in the show playtext (£5), not only do the company directly asking for tips (bring cash!) to top up their modest performance fee, but the production process itself aimed to “[interrogate] every element of labour and articulating what we wanted to change”. This included creating job shares, meaningful accommodations for disabled and chronically ill company members, centring sustainability and reuse within the design, ensuring that “experts from the scene” were employed by the production, and “ultimately…moving our consciousness towards our identities as workers” and not theatre ‘enthusiasts’. This dismantling of theatre is further presented literally through the dismantling of the set as pre-recorded discussions of the labour that is involved in theatre making play to Wet Mess’ mesmerising physicality.

Act 2 presents us with a cabaret of some of the most exciting and exquisite acts on the UK drag scene while Sue Gives A F*ck leads us through a brief and comical history of the queer club scene, introducing each act in turn. Each act communicates to the audience a piercing commentary on what it means to do drag and be a member of the ‘alphabet mafia’, from Sadie Sinner the Songbird’s captivating burlesque on race and diversity in the scene to Chiyo’s gut wrenching monologue on perception, ownership, sex, and expectation.

‘Sound Of The Underground’ is a sharp and radical critique that subverts the expectation of queerness in itself. As a queer person and theatre maker it made me feel seen, and it’s absolutely not to be missed.

Playing until 25th February, https://royalcourttheatre.com/

Reviewer: SJ Roberts

Reviewed: 26th January 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★★★★