Based on author Joe Leather’s real-life experiences working as a Refuse Loader throughout lockdown, this one-person comedic play is a love letter to each hard-working Northerners and gender euphoria by means of monologue, music, and drag. During the pandemic, Joe utilized for each job out there; when the jewelry store the place he was speculated to work closed on the day he was meant to start out, he realised that what wouldn’t be halted because of lockdown was refuse assortment. Around the identical time, he turned his expertise as a performer right into a drag persona to amuse his buddies on Zoom. And so, his journey from bin man to pull queen started. Following a sell-out run and an Offie nomination for ‘Best Show at Camden Fringe’ 2022, Wasteman returns this February for a VAULT Festival debut.

From stacking up the wheelie bins to coming into a drag contest in his quest to be named ‘Miss Stoke’, a bin man swaps steel-toed boots for stilettos to chase his dream of being a drag queen. Living in a small Northern city together with his anti-woke boyfriend, the plot begins as their relationship ends. As he makes one thing fabulous in essentially the most un-fabulous of conditions, count on triple risk expertise, dramatic aptitude, and stiff hamstrings whereas he prepares for the competitors in simply 4 weeks. There aren’t any limits to what he’ll do for the crown, from carrying fishnet tights below his uniform, to training the splits on his lunch break.

Joe Leather mentioned “As a young person born in Bolton, I didn’t get to see any stories about where I was from. And as a young queer person from a land far beyond Greater London, stories about towns and lives like mine were non-existent. For this reason, I am over the moon to be bringing Wasteman back to London and the VAULT Festival. I believe that stories about gender expression are particularly necessary in the current climate and wrote the majority of the play while working as a council bin-man in lockdown. The piece fuses my passions for monologue, character-comedy, drag, musical theatre, and unusual day jobs. I hope it will send a message to LGBTQIA+ and working-class people from all over the country that their stories deserve to be told too.”

Joe Leather (he/they) is an Offie-nominated author and performer. Acting credit embrace Jersey Boys (International Tour), Oklahoma! (Gordon Craig) and Sleep No More (Punchdrunk, Shanghai). TV credit embrace Britain’s Got Talent and The Last Leg. Their earlier musical, The Lost Works of Willy Shakes was one of many Telegraph’s ’20 Must-see Shows of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019′. Joe has additionally offered script and lyrics to touring UK Drag Show Queenz.

Written by Joe Leather | Directed by Kat Bond
VAULT Festival, Pit, 14 – 16 February 2023, 20:00

Running Time: 60 minutes | Suitable for ages 15