Viva Brighton Issue #85 March 2020

DRAG
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Photos by Tanner Abel
Sasha Velour
Sparking joy
Sasha Velour wants to take drag “to the next
level”. The season 9 champion of RuPaul’s Drag
Race is bringing her innovative, internationally
acclaimed one-queen show, Smoke & Mirrors, to
Brighton Dome this month. Sasha has directed
and choreographed the show herself, believing
that “it’s important for drag artists to have a
hand in many different aspects of what we do”,
and seeing drag as a “multimedia artform”. The
show is traditional in some ways – with lip sync
performances, costume reveals and gags – but
also features technological experimentation.
I have one performance inspired by a turn
of the century magic trick, where a magician
would saw his assistant in half. I saw myself in
half, but the thing I’m sawing is actually just a
video that’s projected onto a flat surface. It’s kind
of magical drag technology.
I love English audiences so much. What I’ve
noticed is that a greater variety of people have
a passion for drag. People of all ages: gay and
straight, male and female. I think that that speaks
to something in the culture: a love of camp
perhaps; an open-minded sensibility. People here
also love older music and I miss that sometimes,
performing drag in the States. Sometimes it’s
a bit hostile to get people excited there about
Shirley Bassey or Judy Garland, but in England I
have no problem!
Ru Paul’s Drag Race is a big reference for
drag all over the world, for better or for
worse. It’s amazing being able to connect with
people of very different backgrounds, and we still
do see eye-to-eye on our art, and what drag is all
about. I think that drag is mostly more similar
than different around the entire world.
I’ve been researching the way that drag
artists have been part of classical theatre,
art, and dance for a really long time. The
ancient world is full of gender fluidity on stage,
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