‘Dead Drag Queen’ Deals with AIDS in a Different Manner
Although it begins with a funeral for one of its characters, the play, “At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen” is billed as more of a celebration than a somber piece. The show — written by Terry Guest — stars Trajan Clayton as Courtney Berringers/Anthony Knighton and Ben Cole as Vickie Versailles/ Hunter Grimes, drag performers in their early 20s who are also living with AIDS.
Georgia Voice caught up recently with Atlantabased actor-director Damian Lockhart, seen in the TV series “Atlanta” and the play “Bootycandy” at Actor’s Express, to discuss the work, making its Georgia debut Feb. 1 at Out Front Theatre Company, and its impact.
Damian, what made you want to direct this? It’s not your typical AIDS play. When we think of AIDS plays, we think of “The Normal Heart” or “Angels in America,” where it’s set in this big city. This takes place in a small city: Albany, Georgia. It’s a twohander about two Southern drag queens living with AIDS. One is Black and one is white, and drag happens to be the caveat for how Courtney is telling the story. She uses drag as a mask and a shield and a tool to retell the story of her life and explain how much drag means to her and why it is important. You learn a little about playwright Terry Guest’s uncle, who the play is inspired by. He was a drag queen who passed away from AIDS complications.
Is this a modern-day story? The year is not specified, but we are playing with around 2012 or 2015.
Can you talk about working with playwright Guest? I know Terry from college. We went to
Kennesaw State University and I’m from Buena Vista, Georgia, which is near Albany. He’s also queer and Black. We did a reading of this a few years back and I have directed this at Urbanite Theater in Sarasota. We have acted together in college before. We work together often.
At a time when drag performers are under attack, along with members of the LGBTQ community, why is this play so vital? Right around the time all this was reaching its peak I was actually doing a show at The Warehouse Theatre where I was playing a drag queen. We had a lot of conversations and a [fellow] performer — a working drag queen — talked a lot about how that show was hopefully showing people that drag queens are human beings too and humanizing who they are. I took that conversation, and it influenced this production. I really wanted to show the humanity of these drag queens. I talked to the actors every day in rehearsal and told them to bring pieces of themself to their character as opposed to “playing” a drag queen. It’s really important for me to show people who may be on the right or the left that drag queens are normal and have dreams and aspirations just like you and me. There is a reason this art form has existed for so long and is so intriguing to people. [Audiences] can find a sense of safety in these clubs and on the stage where these drag queens can be something other than themselves. I think a lot of Southern queer people, we dream big, and drag is an easy avenue to get into that — feeling like we are in Hollywood, like we are Diana Ross or Joan Crawford, and getting that sense of pride.
Are there drag numbers in this show? Yes, there are moments when the audience will see a drag queen come to life.
What do you want audiences to take away from this? This is a story with so much heart in it. It’s not something you see on a regular basis. It’s not a story that I have ever seen. It’s also a story that is very important to the conversation we need to be having about AIDS and HIV affecting Black Southern people. For years, the CDC and many medical institutions have been ringing the alarm that Black Southern men who have sex with men are making up the majority of the new cases every year. It’s a way to have the conversation without the heaviness of [other plays]. It has weight but is different.
My goal is to have the audience go on an emotional roller coaster. You’ll be laughing, thinking, questioning things. It’s a show about love and friendship, heartache and pain and all those juicy human things we all crave when we watch entertainment. I am hoping this is a show that lives beyond the stage.