‘Tis the season to be Queer. The crème de la crème of London’s Queer cabaret groups are taking over the Pleasance this December for a festive celebration of London’s renowned drag, cabaret, and performance scene. This year the venue welcomes a diverse representation of the LGBTQ+ community, with drag kings, queens and gender non-conforming artists all taking to the stage.
Following on from two acclaimed residencies at the Pleasance with Sink The Pink, Ginger Johnson is back for an evening of camp laughs, filthy looks, and all the usual shiny shit you’ve come to expect from Pleasance’s own Christmas tree angel. All-female and non-binary theatre and cabaret company Pecs Drag Kings visit Pleasance for the first time with Pecs: Christmas Queer before the one and only Cocoa Butter Club promise to decolonise and remoisturise in a brand-new Christmas revue, Gifted. Acclaimed pan-Asian collective The Bitten Peach will bring the festivities to a close and enchant audiences with their Bedtime Stories
Embracing the new normal, the venue has transformed its main house into London’s most exciting, socially distanced comedy, theatre and cabaret space. The new three-tier auditorium will welcome 100 people a night when it reopens in November, bringing the spirit of the Fringe back to London.
The venue will follow up-to-date safety regulations with e-ticketing, enhanced cleaning and table service using the app Butlr to provide drinks as well as new pizzas from neighbours The Depot. The auditorium will open one hour before each performance to give audiences time to settle in and enjoy some pre-show drinks ensuring you can spend your whole evening at the venue in style. A trip to the Pleasance promises to be a fun and safe night out.
Anthony Alderson, Director of Pleasance Theatre Trust, comments, I’m thrilled that we are re-opening the London space and managing to bring theatre back to London audiences. We have put strict hygiene and cleanliness protocols in place and are making sure that your visit to the Pleasance is as safe as possible. The artists we work with are at the heart of what we do and this re-opening season is all about bringing back that undefinable Fringe spirit that embodies all of us.
London’s Queer cabaret collectives take over Pleasance Islington this festive season
Pleasance Theatre, Carpenters Mews, London N7 9EF Wednesday 11th November – Tuesday 22nd December 2020
The programme is as follows:
Ginger Johnson presents
Ginger Johnson’s Christmas Egg
8th – 9th December 2020
Join Newcastle’s sweetheart and some of her most ridiculous cabaret pals for an evening of camp laughs, filthy looks, and all the usual shiny shit you’ve come to expect from Pleasance’s own Christmas tree angel, Ginger Johnson.
From the same tiny mind that brought you How to Catch a Krampus and Escape from Planet Trash, Miss Rona may have put pay to her usual festive offering but that won’t stop Ginger from squeezing her lockdown paunch into 4 pairs of dance tights and making an idiot of herself in the name of entertainment. Expect songs, sequins and special guests.
Pecs Drag Kings present
Pecs: Queer Christmas
10th – 12th December 2020
The Kings of Pecs have been queerantined up in our castle but now it’s time to Pec the halls because we’re back in town and we want to spread the Christmas Queer.
Join us in our cosy cabaret grotto while we bring you some of our greatest festive hits, queermas tales and sexy socially distanced dances.
Put some Christmas Queer in your stocking filler!
The Cocoa Butter Club presents
Gifted
15th – 17th December 2020 Ooo-wee, what did you wish for?
The Cocoa Butter Club presents Gifted – an exquisite cabaret evening of excellence; delivering dreams, desires and demands to the most deserving – that’s you!
Wrapped in your favourite RnB, Neo Soul and Old Skool jams, expect a homecoming feeling, as our family reunites to ‘decolonise and re-moisturise’! Issa generous serving of multi-skilled and highly melanated talent, boasting burlesque, drag, music, spoken word, circus arts and more!
Bitten Peach presents
Bedtime Stories
21st – 22nd December 2020
2020 might be a total nightmare, but this December you’ll be having some sweet dreams as you dive into The Bitten Peach Bedtime Stories!
London’s Premiere Pan-Asian Cabaret Collective comes together to present a special winter season showcase, featuring some of your favourite fairytales with a queer twist and the Bitten Peach’s signature Asian flavours.
Pleasance, Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N7 9EF
The nearest underground station is Caledonian Road (Piccadilly Line). The nearest train stations are Kings Cross/St Pancras and Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Richmond.
Tickets from £15. Buy tickets from www.pleasance.co.uk or call 0207 609 1800.
@ThePleasance, #ThePleasance
