"Drag is really good at ignoring real life, and real life is really good at not knowing drag is there. So when they’re forced to actually deal with each other that’s kind of where [the magic is.]" - Darrin Hagen.

How great would the world be if everyone who didn’t understand each other was forced to spend a couple of awkward hours trapped in an elevator together?

That’s the question that I was left with after watching a performance of With Bells On, a charmingly hilarious play presented by the Guys in Disguise, starring James Hamilton and Paul Welch. As any claustrophobic would tell you, the very notion of being trapped in a small, shaky elevator is a nightmare. For a drag queen dressed head to toe in a sparkly Christmas tree costume, cumbersomely over-the-top headpiece, painfully tall acrylic platform stilettos and with a full bladder on her way to compete for the title of Drag Queen of the Year, it would be a horror beyond belief. This is exactly the situation Natasha, played spectacularly by veteran actor Paul Welch, finds herself in when her world collides with that of her hapless and solitary neighbour Ted. Following the performance, award winning writer and director Darrin Hagen was gracious enough to sit down for a discussion about just what inspired him to write this unlikely and unique holiday production. "The weird thing about being a drag queen is if you don’t get ready at the club, if you get ready at home, then you ultimately have to get there." And getting there, for the show’s distinctive heroine, is half the battle. "If you’re just in the gay bar then nobody thinks it’s weird at all. But if you leave the gay bar and walk home, suddenly you’re going to run into people that don’t expect that they’re going to see a drag queen." Hagen continues, "So for me, the place for comedy is always where drag meets real life. And in that elevator that’s exactly what happens."

Confining the world of the play to a four foot by four foot box presented Hagen with a new challenge and interesting departure from his usual style of production. "Most of my plays are short scenes that move around through time and space. And I knew as soon as I put them in an elevator and got them stuck, that’s suddenly one scene; one long scene! It was a kind of theatre I hadn’t written before. I usually write smaller, shorter scenes... So to actually force two people to get to know each other was a bit of a challenge."

For the fortunate audience, it was a challenge Hagen triumphed over to great comedic result. From the first moment of Natasha’s arrival and perhaps the most memorable character entrance I have ever witnessed, the laughs are non-stop. Hagen’s brilliant writing and the actors fantastic performances aside, even just the mere sight of the lovably diminutive and non-descript Ted, portrayed so earnestly by Hamilton, standing next to the ‘statuesque’ beauty of Natasha, all six foot nine hundred of her, makes for a hilarious visual. Even more surprisingly still, despite the restrictively small space encompassing the two actors, the physical comedy in With Bells On is frequent and impressive. "In terms of the physicality that’s something that evolved as the script evolved," says Hagen. "A lot of it was discovered when Ian Prinsloo directed it at the Lunchbox [Theatre] in Calgary, the first time around, I kind of watched him do it and went ‘Oh!’ He found some beautiful stuff in it."

Having mounted With Bells On for now the fourth run, I asked Hagen if that makes it easier to get back into the feel of the show or if he and the cast struggle to find a new feel each time. "In theatre you can’t actually do the show over and over again. You can try, it’ll never happen. So just let go of that expectation."

For those who have seen previous versions of With Bells On, be prepared for a whole new lighting scheme, new jokes, even an entirely new monologue added by Hagen for this production. And for Hagen, he has learned to let go of the expectation that, as a director, he needed to maintain control over every aspect of the production. Instead, he and the cast have allowed each mounting of the show, and indeed each performance, to have a life of its own. "It took me a long time to trust that I could let go of control. That’s really when [the show] flies, is when you stop trying to control it. I mean, you’re totally in control of what’s happening, but [particularly for the actors] how you react in those moments has to be real and fresh, and you have to turn off the control for that. It’s a fine balance, but I thought there was nice new stuff tonight. I feel like it’s a new show.... I can’t believe how many times I’ve seen it and I’m still laughing."

The theme of not having control and allowing for life to take you in unexpected directions is echoed in the production itself, particularly through the personal journey we witness in the character of Natasha. From the surface, one might fairly assume that when a relatively sheltered man find himself trapped in an elevator with a drag queen, that it is the more prosaic man who might be the one less open minded and willing to accept someone as ‘different’ as a drag queen. But that’s not necessarily the case. "That’s the thing I kind of love about this play, she’s kind of the narrow minded one. He’s ready for the experience and she’s like No! No! You’re Mr. Normal, I’m not interested [in getting to know you.]"

Hagen’s Natasha seems to have this standoffishness about her as a result of feeling stigmatized and ostracized by the less colourful world she is forced to contend with when not in the safety and comfort of her drag community. "When a drag queen dresses up, you know you’re a freak. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. You’re trying to shock people. You’re trying to be provocative. But at the same time, you just want to fit in. You do everything you can to make sure people notice you, then you kind of go Why is everyone staring at me? It’s that weird double-edged sword of drag."

For Natasha, her struggle is to leave behind her own preconceptions about Ted and to recognize that he too has his own issues and insecurities and needs. When you live in a world of ‘Magic Crystal Palaces’ you can easily forget how uneventful and dull other people’s worlds and lives can be. They may not be staring at you because they see you as a freak, but because they see you as something remarkable and beautiful, even miraculous.

For many people, the holiday season can be as terrifying as being trapped in an elevator. Having felt excluded, even vilified by a family, a religion, even a society that relegates those of us who are considered to be different as outcasts, Christmas time can be annoying, lonely, even painful. It is for people like this, Hagen wrote With Bells On. "I’m not a big fan of most Christmas programming. I’m not a big fan of forced gaiety, pardon the pun, people being obligated to spend money they don’t have. Christmas comes with all these obligations. And I think if you’re going to go out and enjoy a Christmas show it should be something that challenges you a little bit or offers something fresh. And for those people that don’t like Christmas programming, they’re the ones that I want to come to this show. Because it’s not your typical Christmas program. It’s for a diverse audience. It speaks to people that might not feel welcomed by the traditional family Christmas. It speaks to the people that got left out of the Christmas mess. For all those people that have ever felt left out of Christmas this is the Christmas show for them."

Like a gigantically tall drag queen decked out in a sparkling silver Christmas tree costume standing next to you in a tiny elevator, With Bells On is not something you should miss seeing. Darrin Hagen’s play contains the important messages of friendship and tolerance, without any of the commercialism or schmaltzy faux sentimentality of many Christmas shows - and all wrapped up beautifully with the giant silver bow of a great drag performance on top. So open your hearts and your minds to a terrific piece of theatre that just might renew your faith in the Christmas spirit. And even if it doesn’t, you’re still in for one hell of a good laugh.