Psycho Beach Party | The X Collective
All images: Natasha McDonald.
The hyper camp drag parodying of classic, cult classic, unknown films & film genres is not a new genre of performance. We have seen this form utilised time and again in drag spaces to utterly delightful effects, the theatrical production of such… pantomimes, I guess you could them is, however, much more of an American or British tradition. The X Collective brings this form down under with their run of Charles Busch’s Psycho Beach Party, which brings together the worlds of the 50s psychodrama, the 60s beach flick, and 80s slashers.
Aubrey Haive (yes, from RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under season 2) plays Chicklet Forrest, who seems like your regular girl next door but really, she’s sitting on a BIG secret (no, not that one), she has multiple personalities, and one of them, the voracious vixen Ann Bowman, is set on world domination. *GASP*. Bowman and Chicklet’s other personalities engage in various antics all of which get in the way of Chicklet achieving her truest dream, to be a beach bum and surf her days away. However, she does end up getting her life-story being optioned to be the next big cinematic blockbuster so, I feel like everything turned out okay for little ole Chicklet.
High camp is the name of the game here peoples. From beginning to end Psycho Beach Party is irreverent, tongue-n-cheek, tasteless, and an utter giggle-fest. The play ends, the cast bows and all I had to say was “that was deeply, deeply silly”. And I need you to understand that in this context that is a massive compliment. The only thing this production takes seriously is its commitment to a lack of seriousness, again, a massive compliment here. I have had my criticisms of The X Collective’s work in the past (see my review of Leaves of Glass), but it seems that they’ve found their niche in this vein of camp comedy. I hope they do work like this again.
All-in-all Psycho Beach Party made for a delightful escape into a world where catching waves, homoerotic friendship, who’s winning the limbo contest (it was me - they did audience participation), and saving the world from an evil dominatrix were the biggest concerns anyone had. My only complaint is that no one died, which is so odd to say and also, not this production’s fault! If you’re beach bummed to have missed it, all I can say is SUPPORT LOCAL DRAG.
All images: Natasha McDonald.
‘Psycho Beach Party’ by The X Collective plays at PIP Theatre from 8-24 August 2024.
