Former Wagga drag queen, Strewth, spins a queer fairy tale in Cinderfella

Cinderfella, a show by former Riverina resident and drag queen Strewth, will approach this question with a mix of music, emotion and humour in Wagga this weekend.

Strewth was given the opportunity to perform this one person show as part of their winner's package at this year's Wollundry Drag Pageant.

She said that as a former resident of Tumut and Wagga, she found returning to the region perform a gratifying experience.

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"When I was 18 or 19, I moved to Wagga and there was a gay scene, but we didn't really have our own spaces," she said.

"It's just really great to see all of this happening now, there's the Mardi Gras, and the little unofficial space at the Curious Rabbit.

"It's just really nice to come back and be celebrated for my art and who I am as opposed to being chased down the street."

In Cinderfella, Strewth uses songs and narrative beats torn from Disney classics as the basis for a biting satirical performance, discussing the complicated relationship Disney have with the queer community.

While elements of queer culture have been visible in Disney films for decades, they are rarely identified as such.

The design for Ursula in the little Mermaid was heavily influenced by American actor and drag queen, Divine. Even the song that frustrated millions of parents around the world, Let it Go, has been described as as thinly-veiled metaphor for coming out as gay.

"If you look at all the Disney villains, most of them are what we'd call queer coded. The male villains would have a lisp or a limp wrist, or were quite effeminate," Strewth said.

"Meanwhile the main characters were all straight, cisgender, very typical sorts of people, so as a kid you didn't really get to experience that feeling of, oh, I could be the main character of the story one day, and have a happy ending.

"This is my attempt to reclaim that narrative, and put a queer spin on it ... it's an adult show, so it's mainly for Disney adults who didn't get to have that experience as a kid."

There has been a furore over moves to reclaim, or "censor" traditional narratives among conservative groups in recent years.

Earlier this year, Roald Dahl's publisher Puffin was the subject of mountains of hate mail for rewriting elements of his books that were seen as offensive.

Strewth said this show was not written to rewrite the past.

She said it's important we don't forget "how things used to be", or we run the risk of sleepwalking into a more homophobic world.

"I'm never interested in papering things that have happened in the past. I think it's actually really important to learn more about it," she said.

"In the show, I talk about these representations in media of queer, and particularly trans people ... I don't want to forget about those things because I want people to understand where we've come from, and how to not go back there again.

"We've seen a resurgence of all these attitudes I personally thought we had dealt with, and now they're getting blasted over the media, and it feels like we're going backwards."

While Disney has taken some steps to improve the diversity of its offerings in recent years, Strewth said it was still hard to imagine an openly queer princess being the protagonist of Disney film.

She said of this comes down to a conflict between traditional and queer ideas of narrative and fantasy.

"It's hard to think about, because when I imagine a fantasy world I don't want to imagine that transphobia exists, and that people like me have to live in the closet, but of course that'd have to be the obstacle the main character overcomes," she said.

"Maybe something similar to Elsa from Frozen, who has to hide her magic because she's been brought up to be afraid of it. Or Mulan, who wants to pursue her dreams but has to pretend to be someone she's not, or Moana who feels restricted by the expectations of her community.

"In the end all these characters stand in their true selves and the world doesn't end. In fact it gets a little brighter ... Oh, and definitely some cute talking animals."

Strewth will perform Cinderfella at the Curious Rabbit on Saturday August 26 at 9pm.

The show contains swearing, mild drug and sexual references, lip-syncs, live singing, puppetry, and more, and has been rated M for magical, mature audiences.

More information is available here.

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