News
Diva Dan Inspires New Show at Royal Exchange
Published: 01/09/08
Glitz, glamour, filth and fun rolls its way into Manchester's Royal Exchange Studio Theatre from Thursday 18 - Saturday 20 September, as Fittings Multimedia Arts returns with new musical extravaganza DANNY DIVA.
Inspired by the life of Diva Dan - the awe-inspiring and profoundly deaf performer with the legendary Bloolips drag troupe - DANNY DIVA is a new musical play by award-winning playwright Russell Barr in collaboration with Bloolips founders Bette Bourne and Lavinia Co-op.
The play follows the path of Danny, a coal miner's son who goes to London to find his inner swan as a singing drag queen. Devastated by his death from Aids, his mother Jean is guided through the seven circles of hell by Virgil, the roller-skating poet drag queen, and Malacado, the leader of the devils, to uncover the secrets of her son's glamorous and often hedonistic life in 1980s London and New York.
Director of DANNY DIVA and Fittings Multimedia Arts Artistic Director, Garry Robson says:"DANNY DIVA is the latest in a series of works that set out to uncover otherwise hidden histories. It was while Bette Bourne was working with us as a consultant on our last foray into the world of radical drag that we began to hear hilariously hair-raising tales of the Bloolips troupe and Diva Dan in particular. My ears were instantly pricked to his wonderful and tragic story and we pledged to delve deeper into this rich seam of performance history and bring his life to the world's attention".
DANNY DIVA premieres at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, before transferring to the Bluecoat, Liverpool (25 - 26 Sept), Soho Theatre, London (29 Sept - 4 Oct) and will tour the UK in Spring 2009. All performances of DANNY DIVA features BSL interpretation.
www.royalexchange.co.uk
Image copyright: Steven Mark Needham 1980
