Theatre reviews: Gush | Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Gush, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh ★★★★

Priscilla Queen Of The Desert. Playhouse, Edinburgh ★★★★

Whatever turns you on, went the old mantra of the permissive 1960s; and the Traverse’s new show Gush comes as a powerful reminder that even after decades of backlash, there’s still plenty to be said for being honest about our deepest desires, no matter whether, or how often, we act on them.

In Jess Brodie’s explosive 75-minute monologue – given a breathtaking solo performance by a bold and brilliant Jessica Hardwick – Ally is a woman about to give birth to her first child, but determined to fulfil once last promise to herself, before she disappears into the new life of motherhood.

It’s not that Ally is lonely, or even particularly anxious. She has a lovely husband, a nice flat, and a good job to return to; and she knows that motherhood is something she wants, even longs for.

READ MORE: How Scottish actor Jessica Hardwick is striking out on her own

It’s simply that ever since she was a teenager, she has known that she is attracted to women as well as men; and now, in the last few weeks before her child’s birth, she has resolved to act on that desire, going online to find a female sex worker, and arranging to meet her in a hotel in Cambuslang, no less.

Jess’s three meetings with the sex worker, over a few days, involve a hectic and often enthralling mix of comedy, frustration, pathos, and blazing erotic fulfilment, all held in a perfect balance in Brodie’s intense and perfectly-shaped script; Becky Hope-Palmer’s production brings together all the elements of theatre – Becky Minto’s spare and clever design, Niroshini Thambar’s wonderful, heart-thumping sound design, and Renny Robertson’s superb lighting – in a beautifully intense and well-crafted small-scale solo drama.

And at the centre of it all, Jessica Hardwick’s performance glows with a fierce all-female radiance, as Ally brings her longed-for child to birth, while insisting that she must also continue to explore her own truth.

Anyone who has ever been, or been close to, a woman nearing the mighty transition of childbirth will recognise the almost superhuman energy, courage and warmth that Hardwick captures so memorably here; in a remarkable debut play that has all the exhilarating force of a truth often suppressed, unleashed and celebrated at last.

Very little is suppressed, meanwhile, in the much-loved story of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.

Like Stephan Elliott’s original 1994 film, the 2006 stage musical – briefly at the Playhouse this week – famously tells the tale of two showbiz drag queens and an elegant transsexual cabaret star, who set off across Australia from Sydney to Alice Springs to play a date at a casino there, run by the estranged wife of the group’s leader, Tick.

All three characters, in different ways, are paying a high price for their insistence on defying rigid gender norms, and on being who they are, in all their camp glory.

In Priscilla the musical, though, the story is often a little more than a peg on which to hang the show’s brilliant 1990s juke-box playlist – featuring hits from It’s Raining Men to I Will Survive – and the extraordinary staging of the musical numbers, which ranges from the frankly ridiculous (a chorus of 12 all dressed as cakes left out in the rain) to the absolutely eye-popping, as in the show’s lavish panto-style finale.

Never in the field of human entertainment has so much glitter been worn with such defiance, and in such an explosive range of colours; and at the end, the audience rise to greet not only the show’s three hard-working and delightful stars – Adèle Anderson and Nick Hayes, with Kevin Clifton as Tick – but a whole 25-strong ensemble who dedicate themselves with passion, skill and unfailing energy to the cause of encouraging us to dare to be ourselves, in all our unique and quirky glory.

Gush at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh until 25 April. Priscilla Queen Of The Desert at the Playhouse, Edinburgh, ends tomorrow

The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today

Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here