A sharp-tongued drag queen dressed as a Christmas tree gets stuck in an elevator with a freshly divorced conservative accountant who is just trying to peak out of his shell. This is definitely not your grandmother’s Christmas play, but it should be. Darrin Hagen’s newest comedy, With Bells On, is making its world premiere in Calgary at Lunchbox Theatre, and those who see it will never be able to think of a Christmas Queen in quite the same way.
The latest play from this Edmonton-based playwright and drag queen is a creation where depth and nuance takes place, where most Christmas shows would add some tinsel, fake snow, and another chorus of O Holy Night. This is no easy feat, but Hagen is no beginner.
Having written or co-written over twenty-five plays, this Drag Artiste is the brains and beauty/brawn behind such hits as Tornado Magnet: A Salute to Trailer Court Women, The Neo-Nancies: Hitler’s Kickline, and BitchSlap! His first play, The Edmonton Queen, was subsequently expanded into book form and published.
Performing in every show that he has written, Hagen transforms into characters that are nothing less than four dimensional. From our insiders look at the inimitable Dotty Parsons in her battle to fight "mobile home-ophobia" (Tornado Magnet), to the hilarious and heartbreaking journey that the dazzling and quick-witted Gloria Hole takes us through in The Edmonton Queen, we are assured that each story will leave us crying, one way or another.
This seasoned performer has no lack of inspiration when it comes to content and vision for his shows.
"I want to normalize the drag experience," says Hagen. "It’s easy for people to make drag queens the victim or to fetishize them, you see that in movies over and over again. I’m more interested in exploring and finding out who’s in the makeup. The men who are underneath the makeup are far more interesting than the drag queens. That’s why I don’t like films such as To Wong Foo – we never see the men underneath the drag."
Hagen began writing when he realized that there wasn’t any material for people who wanted to cross over from the drag scene into theatre.
"I really began by writing roles for myself; creating roles for other people than just young, pretty men. People like me. I wanted to create a body of work for people coming from the drag scene into theatre. There is a lot of talent that can be used in both mediums, and some people don’t realize how much work it is to do drag. People easily dismiss drag shows, but a lot of drag queens make their own clothes and put hours of work into their performances. It’s a finely tuned skill."
Towering at over 7 feet in heels, Hagen’s writing isn’t the only thing that gets him noticed.
"I love shattering people’s idea that a drag queen is a small, feminine guy. When I’m in drag in public, I’m usually the tallest person in the room. I’m the size of a redwood," he laughs.
Shattering perceptions seems to come naturally to Hagen, and his storytelling approach makes you feel comfortable and familiar, while slapping you in the ass with hilarious one-liners and a little more truth than you thought you could handle.
With Bells On is no exception, but there is one big first in this show. Hagen has performed in all of the premieres of his work until now, but because of scheduling conflicts, it just wasn’t practical this time around. He turned over the reins to a recent Calgary transplant, Paul Welch, who took on the drag queen character with full abandon.
Noting that a lifetime full of Golden Girls reruns was a good start, Welch was quick to point out that it was just the beginning.
"I got lessons on how to walk in heels and watched dozens of films about drag queens," Welch says, "and one particular film that I watched several times was Pageant – a documentary about the 52 men who compete in the Miss Gay America pageant. I read Darrin’s book, The Edmonton Queen, and asked him a lot of questions."
The research didn’t stop there, as Welch jumped into rehearsal in full drag, and remained that way for the entire process.
"It was really important to me to be physically in character," said Welch, who was strapped into a corset and in heels, standing up for 7 or 8 hours a day.
But he says all of this with a smile, as if he were the luckiest man on earth.
"The whole thing has been such a joyful process," he beams. "Most of the public doesn’t get to see drag queens unless they go to a night club or a gay bar, so to humanize it and make it accessible is very important. There is a lot of heart in her (my character) – you see this exterior persona, but you also see the human being."
Stafford Perry, who plays opposite Welch and is simply billed as "He" to Welch’s "She", is the perfect physical juxtaposition, and plays every one of his cards with such great sincerity, that you can’t help but love him.
Welch stands at 6’6", without heels, so his stature alone makes him a good candidate for furthering Hagen’s idea that a drag queen need not be demure. But even though Hagen was involved in the rehearsal process, he gives credit to Welch for making this character his own.
"Paul really did his work," Hagen states proudly, "when I arrived after the first week of rehearsals, I was really happy to see how it was going. I felt that I was there to simply confirm what was already going on. I loved watching Paul and what he did with it, the choices he made. He played it a lot differently than I would have, and I learned a lot from that."
The director and dramaturg for With Bells On, is former Theatre Calgary Artistic Director, Ian Prinsloo.
"I had never met him before, but it was a joy to work with him, from start to finish," Hagen shares. "Ian asked me questions that made me make hard decisions about the characters. It’s easy for me to put my focus on the drag character and put more energy into that, but his questions kept me from turning He into a cartoon character, and instead give him more depth."
Some are surprised that Lunchbox Theatre is debuting this show, as it may seem more risqué than their usual productions, but Hagen says it’s been a good experience.
"It was great for me to make something with a drag queen in it that was G-rated and gentle, something accessible. There was a 9-year-old kid at opening night, and it was a safe place for him to be able to see someone in drag as a human being. When I was a kid, I would’ve loved to have had that."
G-rated or not, With Bells On will definitely touch you, and you’ll enjoy every jingling minute of it. Move over Mr. Scrooge, there’s a new Christmas diva in town.