Surrey drag 'herstory' brings queer theatre to City Hall

A form of royalty descended on Surrey City Hall Friday night in a one-night-only performance of "Tucked and Plucked," a new show that explores and celebrates the drag queen history of Surrey.

"It is a chaotic talk show, part Jerry Springer, part Rosie O'Donnell with a little bit of Oprah's sagely wisdom thrown in," said performer David Deveau, also known as Peach Cobblah. 

Deveau and his husband, Cameron Mackenzie (who also goes by Isolde N. Barron), hosted the show alongside Queen Bee of Surrey, Miz Adrien; the current drag Empress of Surrey, Amanda Luv; and Mona Regina Lee.

Rich drag history in Surrey

Earlier this year, Tucked and Plucked performed at the Vancouver PuSH Festival.

After one of the performances, friend and colleague Neil Scott, who is also Surrey's cultural production coordinator, approached the pair and asked them to bring the show to Surrey. 

"As we dug into the Surrey drag scene and the Surrey community and saw how rich and full and exciting it really is, we thought, 'What a beautiful opportunity to be able to tap into a very different chapter in drag history, but a sister chapter to the Vancouver chapter that we previously explored in the show,'" Deveau said.

"What's beautiful about living in 2015 is that people no longer have to actually head into the downtown core of Vancouver in order to find commonality with like minded people," added Mackenzie.

"There's a brilliant culture of drag that's happening all over the Lower Mainland right now, and that's the exciting part to me."

City Hall performance

"It is actually remarkable, knowing that this is the heart of Surrey politics right here, and we are welcomed into a space that actually doubles as a theatre," Mackenzie said.

"It does feel like we're going back to the roots of drag as politics, not that the show that we're doing is a soapboxy endeavour, but rather, there's a room that shares an energy of artistry and politics at the same time, which is the key ingredient to drag," Deveau said.

"They don't necessarily need to stand up and give a lecture or a sermon on what they believe in, but walking down the street in heels, and all of that glitter and feathers and fabulousness is inherently political," Mackenzie said.

"We are educating by simply being."

To hear the full audio piece with Peach Cobblah and Isolde N. Barren, listen to: Drag Herstory of Surrey.