Drag Baby post-show Q&A at the Pleasance Theatre. © Sarah Fox

Drag Baby post-show Q&A at the Pleasance Theatre. © Sarah Fox

There were multiple art-imitating-life revelations and resonances during the post-show talk for Grace Carroll’s new play Drag Baby, about a drag queen considering sperm donation for an ex-girlfriend.

Dan (Stephen Cheriton) is the misanthropic drag queen in question. As Drag Baby opens backstage at the Stoke Newington club where he performs, he’s got just one thing on his mind: impressing the TV executives in the audience who may cast him in a new drag reality show that could make him famous.

But then his ex Sally (Nicole Evans) from the hometown he fled shows up unexpectedly after 15 years with the very unexpected request: will he provide the sperm for the baby her girlfriend desperately wants?

When queer playwright Grace Carroll reached an age when she contemplated having children, she wondered how her options would be affected if her partner were a woman. That idea – combined with a life-long love of drag (and Stars in Their Eyes?) – led to Drag Baby, which, during lockdown, she developed via Zoom with director Joseph Winer.

Little did Grace know at that early stage how much the themes – around friendships, queer identity and chosen family – would resonate not just with audiences but the play’s own cast. In fact, Stephen – who, beyond the play, is also well known as the drag queen Orla Nothin – has received numerous similar requests from female friends over the years!

At this week’s post-show Q&A, I discussed Drag Baby‘s journey, what it means to the company, why drag will never be ‘mainstream’, and the politics and protest power of Pride month with (left-right): writer Grace Carroll, director Joseph Winer and cast members Amelia Parillon, Ché, Nicole Evans and Stephen Cheriton.

Drag Baby runs at London’s Pleasance Theatre until 22 June 2024.

Q&A video

With thanks to Michael Pautsch.

Q&A photos

With thanks to Sarah Fox.

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