REVIEW - FAME WHORE - KINGS HEAD THEATRE -

She is a vision! When the doors open to The King’s Head Theatre, Becky Biro (Gigi Zahir/Crayola the Queen) greets you with a presence that instantly captivates you. Right from the start, Fame Whore sets you up perfectly for 75 eventful minutes filled with laughter and unexpected deep moments.

When the show begins, we get a glimpse of Becky’s audition for the hit TV show The Drag Factor. She was told that as an unknown quantity, she has to bring something to the table in order to be considered a contestant for the next season. This short scene marks the beginning of the creation, downfall, and (maybe) redemption of a very relatable drag queen on her way to success.

Tom Ratcliffe’s newest creation is built up in three parts. We are introduced to Becky as a good person who has worked hard for her place in the community. She is an outspoken advocate for all underrepresented forms of drag and wants to use her platform for the greater good, addressing several current social issues like the constant rise of homophobic and transphobic voices in society. We learn about current hardships with her best friend and how she wants to use The Drag Factor to be a queen in shining stilettos for her somewhat-maybe-friend or somehow-maybe-more-than-friend Chris. She wants to whisk them away to a place far away from London and its drunken cis men, where they can just live their truths in peace. We also learn that Becky cared for and grew her pen pals (aka followers) carefully until one significant night she went live and experienced a hostile takeover of her comment section, where she was faced with horrible hate speech. A hurtful blessing in disguise, this event appeared to be exactly the boost to Becky’s following that catapulted her back on the radar of The Drag Factor producers.

But wait, is that really what happened? During the second part of Fame Whore, we get to see a deeper, darker side of Becky. I am not going to spoil the fun here, but be prepared for a rollercoaster of events that had me in tears of laughter and the occasional disbelief. The third part of the show finally tries to hold Becky accountable for what had happened in the past. We are again in for a comedic treat during this part, and I might have heard members of the audience slapping their knees.

Fame Whore is indeed as fast-paced and dark as the press release promised it to be. The comedic timing of Zahir/Crayola the Queen is fabulous, and her expressions are golden! Going through the motions with Becky was generally delightful to watch. Reading the title of the show and the short extract on The King’s Head Theatre website did not prepare me for the deeper parts of the show that explore the hatred minority communities still face in today’s society paired with the growing need to be recognised in a world where people curate their life beyond compare on social media. Zahir took us on a believable journey behind the scenes of such curation, keeping the energy up for the entirety of the show. Even when Becky was ‘muted’ during a video conference, the majority of the audience was captivated by what was happening on the screens onstage.

Ratcliffe’s Fame Whore is cleverly written and full of layers – an overall entertaining story. The stage design was simple but clever, and I enjoyed the use of big screens to display social media platforms, function as gigantic video call screens, and to feature a variety of different characters (all portrayed by Zahir/Crayola the Queen).

As you probably already figured, I had a great night out and absolutely recommend paying Becky a visit if you can. Fame Whore runs until the 29th of October at the King’s Head Theatre.

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

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