With the recent West End show in Backstairs Billy, and The Windsors: Endgame the theme of Royalty isn’t something that creators of theatre shy away from. That’s why when Diana: The Untold & Untrue Story was announced as being transferred to the Clapham Grand following successes off-West End, an Edinburgh Festival stint and UK tour – I was excited. And I had every reason to be, given queer theatre makers are few and far between when it comes o commercial successes (I’m looking at you My Son’s A Queer). The duo that forms Awkward Productions – Diana herself is played by Linus Karp and Joseph Martin who plays a plethora of roles – make this a silly, camp show that will excite more than just the homosexuals. In fact, I dd wonder why the Grand was packed, turning to my neighbours from Cambridgeshire who remarked it was in their top three shows of the Fringe. Right then, no pressure to impress me, then.
There’s a pre-show amble to keep the guests entertained (sort of like those Facebook images where you tag your friends and discover your Drag Name. You get the idea) which was puzzling, but I came with an open mind. I was also in awe of the Grand’s offering of hot dogs, popcorn and churros. Not the usual programmes or tubs of ice cream on offer.
In this show, the audience help birth (no, really!) the young Diana with interaction and video clips a clear catalyst for this show to progress as the night goes on. It’s not a show that offers the most refined sets or elaborate tricks as the immense talent is in the star Linus Karp: who, from the very beginning, dazzles in a sophisticated yet extremely camp Diana were she to be alive and kicking in 2023. I should also at this point also send commendations to the warm-up act, in Suzie Kemp. She offered a warm rendition of ‘Away in a Manger’ as Kate Bush which was perfection and shared a tale of how she as a child sung the rather inappropriate ‘Lovely Ladies’ from Les Mis which caused lots of laughter in the auditorium.
Back to Diana, the low-budget set and costume (Charles is a cut out, for your information) is puffed up with a recognisable Olivia Colman as the Queen. It’s not high art, but it doesn’t profess to be. It’s a show for people (primarily, gays) to mingle, and the genius comes in the writing and direction as the creators know that they’ve gone from a total number of seventy-audience members to nearly ten times that. Had I seen an earlier iteration, I may have had qualms, but I can assure you that with the demure offerings Karp brings as a almost sly Diana prove to be a triumph. The facial expressions and study of the character are there, and Karp proves to show their homework has been done. With the plot and storyline that are ‘untrue’, for certain; there are imaginations of if Diana survived her fate in 1997, causing the audience to chortle with laughter. Audiences heckled the paper cut-out of Charles and it was spectacularly camp. I too found it to be hilariously silly, though I did feel like line ‘there were three of us in this relationship’ from the Martin Bashir interview may have been overwrought.
All in all, I was glad to have seen Karp’s last outing as Diana (it was a Di-conic performance, if you ask me), before they bring the globally-publicised Gwyneth show (yes, the original for that matter) to the masses – despite another very similar production also coming in on the back of the mass publicity.
See you in the courtroom, Gwyneth-Karp!
Until Dec 6 only:
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