Within the Drama High’s promo picture for his or her upcoming present, two muscle-teed masc our bodies suggestively maintain axes in what may very well be the duvet of an attractive fireman calendar. However two queer folks straddling symbols of typical masculinity hints at a deeper exploration than face worth would possibly counsel. And Drama Tops is able to go deep with you in Boys! Boys! Boys!
Elby Brosch and Shane Donohue are the duo that’s Drama Tops, (although their work typically options different artists), who’ve made their mark each within the up to date dance world and the queer nightlife circuit, performing their signature mix of postmodern camp that’s equal elements irony and earnestness. Boys! Boys! Boys!, commissioned as a part of Velocity’s “Made in Seattle” program, is their lengthy awaited second evening-length work. Drama Tops, That is for You confirmed at Washington Corridor in January 2020, which crafted a nuanced rigidity between trans and cis identities, an unfolding journey of transition directed by Brosch. Whereas Drama Tops has at all times been collaboration, this new present marks a transfer to an even-steven co-creation. As a substitute of taking part in two identities at odds, Brosch and Donohue report, they’re a workforce contending with points they each face.
A lot of the dance materials for Boys! Boys! Boys! got here from performances developed for audiences at locations like Kremwerk, Excessive Faggotry on the Unicorn, and Tush at Clock Out Lounge. However placing it in a theater permits the Drama Tops to layer context and arc. The present will not be a strung-together collection of vignettes, they clarify, however a glam rock odyssey that’s about unpacking their queer existentialism.
However even their membership works include an undercurrent of cultural critique. They recalled a current present at Sissy Butch the place each dancers “packed.” Throughout the quantity they pulled out their packs and shoved them in one another’s faces. It was out of the scope of what is likely to be anticipated throughout a typical drag present, however Brosch and Donohue nonetheless obtained a whole lot of enthusiastic help and a few “pleasant confusion.” It makes them optimistic about this present, which hopes to enchantment to each up to date dance audiences and nightlife crowds. They wish to reel of their drag present followers with the sexualized and hyper-masculine poster picture, after which “blow their minds somewhat bit.” That is proper in step with the present’s themes, after all, which asks deeper questions on industrial success, queer presentation, and the problems of masculinity in homosexual tradition. However it’s not a bait-and-switch a lot as a possibility for folks to get outdoors their consolation zones and hopefully discover one thing they join with. A part of the present is personally greeting everybody coming into the house, to remove any discomfort for folk unaccustomed to theatergoing.
Being group ambassadors isn’t nearly welcoming club-goers, but additionally about bringing nightlife into the theater house. A part of the Boys! Boys! Boys! run is 2 afterparties during which drama tops has curated two native drag performers (Killer Bunny on Sept 17 and One on Sept 24) to host a celebration with loads of queer performances, drinks, dancing, and common revelry for viewers and artists alike. Brosch and Donohue say that the afterparty is a part of an overarching idea of the efficiency expertise that extends to merch, an deliberately designed bar house, and an artwork set up that looms over the runway-like stage.
It’s laborious to make use of phrases like “occasion of the season” with out sounding cliché, however if you wish to be on the heartbeat of what’s occurring in Seattle’s dance (or nightlife) scene, Drama High’s Boys! Boys! Boys! is to not be missed!
Boys! Boys! Boys! performs September 15-18 and 22-25 at 7:30pm at twelfth Ave Arts. Boys! Boys! Boys! After Celebration takes place September 17 and 24 at 10:30pm at twelfth Ave Arts. Tickets are on sale by means of Velocity Dance Heart’s web site.