Drag Queens & Iran in 'Lipstick' at the Omnibus

"A bottle of rosewater, a mural of a martyr and an AK47...

When you observe atrocity, it can be a challenge to make the memories fit together. What was it you actually saw? What are you meant to do with it? What are you meant to do with the life you left behind?

When the atrocity is in Iran, and when the life you left behind involved staging drag shows, the questions become a little more specific.

Lipstick is a contemporary Persian fable set in the aftermath of the Green Uprising in Tehran, 2010. 

Part memoir, part fiction, it fuses vaudeville, spoken word, lip synch, and boylesque to reveal the emotional impact of experiencing a revolution by mistake, and how a belief in Elkie Brooks and a recipe for rosewater sorbet can save your life..."

Back in 2015 I Assistant Directed a play that was then called 'Lilac Wine' by Director Sarah Chew. Up until then she'd mostly worked on opera productions and drag, but this was her self-written account of her own experience - a 2-hander exploring her experience of a British Council-funded trip to Iran during a period of political unrest. It's a genuinely fantastic and utterly unique piece.

That show has since grown and developed, and last week I had the pleasure of seeing the most recent incarnation, Lipstick, staged as part of the Beyond Borders mini-season at the Omnibus Theatre, Clapham.

As the theatre puts it, 'Beyond Borders is presented by a collection of female theatre artists who care about intercultural communication and collaboration, and feel passionately about the need to address the rise in hard borders and cultural and ethnic exclusion, from a political and from a personal perspective. This year, the focus is on Britain and the Middle East.'

It was fascinating to see how the production has sharpened and matured, and a great pleasure to still see my hand in a few moments!

You can read an interview with Sarah about it here and follow the production here.