Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story
Pleasance Dome (King Dome), Potterow, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL Wednesday 2nd – Monday 28th August 2023 (not 15th, 16th, 21st), 16:30
Combining drag, multimedia, audience interaction, puppetry and queer joy, Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story is a unique celebration of the People’s Princess. Told by Diana from Heaven, the show highlights her ground-breaking stances on social and queer issues and allows her to speak her (un)truth in breaking free from the monarchy. It is as hilarious as it is tasteless.
Through bold activism, Diana changed countless lives and drew attention to vulnerable groups in society. She is a symbol of independence – breaking free from a loveless marriage and a suffocating institution – and has become more legend than person. Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story foregrounds her as the powerful, independent woman she wasn’t meant to be.
Where does puppetry come into the production?
I do not want to give too much away, but Camilla may or may not be a human-sized monstrous ragdoll operated by my stage manager Joseph in a leather harness, terrorising the audience and Diana alike.
I have a feeling that there is an underexplored relationship between drag and puppetry, but I am not quite sure how I would frame it! Do you feel that drag and puppetry speak to each other as art forms, or share any characteristics?
I think they can share the same playfulness and help us create characters that can be far removed from the performer - gender, age and even type of being become irrelevant as you as a drag performer or puppeteer really can play anything. Both art forms also let you go a bit wilder - had we had an actual lookalike woman playing Diana, rather than me in drag, and human actors playing Charles and Camilla, rather than puppets, we wouldn't have been able to push certain aspects of the show as far as we do (and not just for the physical limitations!). Both art forms apply themselves very well to work that is big, over the top, political, satirical or uninhibited. It allows you another level of freedom and distance from yourself - suddenly saying and doing things that otherwise would be wrong is not only accepted, but celebrated - just think of how hilarious it is when a drag act or a puppet are rude.
Was puppetry always involved in the creative process, or did something in the work suggest that a puppet might help out the dramaturgy?
It came into play very early on - I wanted to have multiple roles in the show without multi-roling myself and with it still being (mostly) a solo show. From the beginning I had this idea of creating childrens' theatre but for adults, so I wanted to incorporate tropes from that with things like big costumes, over the top actors, playful props, a lot of audience participation and, indeed, puppetry. I wanted Charles and Camilla to be 2D characters and less human - so puppetry felt like it would achieve that. Playing with how stiff we could make Charles and how monstrous we could make Camilla was great fun and the puppetry very much heightened the on stage personalities.
If the show is exploring Diana's freedom from the monarchy, does the idea of a puppet speak to the notions of freedom and agency that the story might suggest?
Good point, I wish I'd been clever enough to think of that!
And... predictably...what encouraged you to bring your work to the Fringe?
I love the Fringe and I think the work I create is very fringe - it's queer, new, alternative and bold. Since I wrote the show we've had Charles becoming king, the new season of The Crown, Harry's book and now the Coronation - so, luckily for me, Diana has been brought to the forefront of people's minds again so time is ripe for the people to get to experience her untrue story!
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