#9 years underground and i got to see her in full bloom. that's so special

[heikeee]

saw a parasitic orchid today that takes 9 years to bloom... just growing on the side of the road... how special is that

[traversetheatre]

10 Questions – Dive Queer Party

[5 minute read]

Dive Queer Party are legendary for their riotous, vibrant and unforgettable cabarets. We sat down with Dive founders Miss Annabel Sings (MAS) and Agent Cooper (AC) to see what festive treats are in store at their upcoming cabaret.

So rev up your sleigh, smooth down your stockings and get ready to unwrap an extra special festive edition of our 10 Questions.

(Image: Agent Cooper (L) and Miss Annabel Sings (R). Rod Penn)

1. Who are Dive Queer Party, and what was your inspiration for creating the company?

MAS: Our four eyes met across a sticky carpet during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011 when I was touring with notorious live art collective Eat Your Heart Out. I asked Agent Cooper on a date but despite having lots in common we never made it to first base (thank goodness). We got scheming instead, joining forces to talk about our shared vision for a queer space to share, explore and show off their collective creativity, joy and madness in a safe, fun and inclusive environment.

AC: That space would eventually become Dive Queer Party, which started off as an eclectic, anything-goes queer party in the murky depths of a subterranean dive bar in Edinburgh in July 2013. This is where the foundations of the company and collective were rooted and from this early stage, we were promoting a world where – through the power of positive expression – you can be whoever you want to be, however you want to be, wherever you want to be. (By the way, I still deny she ever asked me out on a date.) 

2. Can you tell us about the first time you performed as Miss Annabel Sings and Agent Cooper, and how have these characters developed and changed over time?

AC: Miss Annabel Sings has been performing since she could walk and talk, making shows for her family in her front room. She’s been on stage ever since, winning a Fringe First at the precocious age of 11 with the Young Pleasance company. As a (nearly) grown up in London she stumbled through a curtain and found a calling as a clown on the neo-cabaret scene as part of performance duo Pustra/Vile-een and was at the forefront of the revival of vaudeville in London in the early 2000s with political performance collective Eat Your Heart Out. The group played an instrumental role in making performance art accessible to everyone, bringing cabaret and performance art out from the underground and art galleries respectively and into pubs clubs and more accessible venues. Her solo work has taken her all over the world and her diary piece Psychomanteum has been presented in various Edinburgh festival shows, Glastonbury Festival, The Supper Club in Amsterdam, The Live Art Development agency, Shunt and BFI London.

MAS: Performance is a fairly new thing for Agent Cooper who did a lot of hanging around in the wings before being inspired to try out drag and then get on stage by her friend Diane Torr - an incredible drag king, activist and performance artist who died this year. We dedicated all of our Fringe shows this year to Diane, with both of us donning banana themed outfits in homage to Diane’s famous performance, which made use of the suggestively shaped fruit. We’re really proud that Dive provides a platform for exchange between artists of all ages and stages, both emerging and established, and showcases home-grown talent alongside international guests – it’s a safe space to develop, try things out and push yourself.

(Image: Dive Queer Party hosting the TravFest17 launch party. Mihaela Bodlovic)

3. What treats are in store for audiences at The Miss Annabel Sings Show Camp as Xmas Cabaret?

MAS: Oooh well, it’ll be a proper festive feast of anarchic queer cabaret featuring some of the best bits of Dive’s triumphant year, with performances from the fairest drag kings and queens of the realm, as well as saucy sing-song-a-longs, riotous audience games, delicious festive cocktails and a very special (bio) Queen’s speech.

AC: We’re delighted to be raising funds for Waverley Care, Scotland’s HIV and Hepatitis C charity, in recognition of World AIDS Day. And there’s a special guest performance from transgurl cabaret singer Sadia Godiva, one of the stars of Dive’s over 50’s cabaret project which was launched for LGBT History Month in February in partnership with Luminate – Scotland’s creative ageing organization, and LGBT Health & Wellbeing.

MAS: The event kicks off with an atypical office Christmas disco from 4-6pm with Dive’s resident DJ, Dave from Accounts. The Miss Annabel Sings Shows opens straight after at 6pm, stuffed full of the best bits of 2017 and guest performances from drag queens Fedora Veronic Homburg, Duclea Reigns, Georgia Tasda and The Duchess, and Drag Kings King Biff, Simon Paterson and our very own Agent Cooper. It will also star Luke Pell as the Angel Gay-briel and an alternative carol concert from the hilarious Porn Choir (they do exactly what it says on the tin).

(Image: King Biff. Mihaela Bodlovic)

4. How do you want audiences to feel after seeing the show?

Stuffed but ready for another good basting next season.

5. What Christmas traditions have you drawn on for the show?

Everything but anything and the kitchen sink! Nativity, Christmas numbers ones, a bad office disco, snogging in the stationary cupboard, photocopying your bum, charades, a celebrity drag king edition of Mastermind (aka Mistermind)…you name it, it’s in there!

6. What are your favourite Edinburgh haunts?

MAS: I love the underground vaults. I love a good haunting, me. *Cackles maniacally*

AC: The urinals, gym changing rooms, lorry sleeper compartments…anywhere with the heady scent of a real man really.

MAS: And of course all the precious queer spaces in the city for fun and performance like The Rabbit Hole, Pollyanna, Grrl Crush and Hot Mess, to name a few.

(Image: Miss Annabel Sings. Rod Penn)

7.     Who are your offstage heroes and why?

MAS: Leigh Bowery, for being so out there and showing us anything is possible. My whole view of performance changed when I encountered his world. This was the inspiration for our ongoing show Homage - a celebration of queer heroes from the past, present and future, resurrected or given life through the medium of performance and showcased in the unique, rainbow-adorned, glitter-streaked world that is Dive. And my parents – 80-year-old Cupcake Alfie and Yvonne - for giving me theatre in the first place. They sent me off to drama classes as a young one and definitely gave me this ridiculous sense of humour, as well as a steely perseverance.

AC: The aforementioned gender activist, dancer and drag king Diane Torr. We became friends with Diane only 3 years ago but she made a massive impact on me before she sadly died earlier this year. Her stage appearances and Man For A Day workshops are legendary and Dive was lucky enough to work with her many times in the short time we knew each other. For over thirty years she explored the theoretical, artistic, and practical aspects of gender identity and was so generous in sharing her knowledge and experience at the same time as being ruthlessly experimental and open to trying new things. I think she’d be excited and proud to see the blossoming drag king scene in Scotland and the UK with nights like The King’s Court (at The Rabbit Hole at CC Blooms) here in Edinburgh and places like Bar Wotever, Kingdom and The Glory down south.

8.  Are there any websites, books or other resources that you find particularly useful as a theatre maker?

MAS: Dive-party.org,uk! YouTube, Karaokeversion.com, Netflix, tele, the news…we find inspiration in everything and anything and spend lots of time together playing, being silly and making each other laugh.

9. What has been your most memorable theatre experience – either as a member of the audience or as part of the creative team?

MAS: Grotbags in panto at the Watford Palace Theatre as a kid and coming to the Edinburgh festival for the first time age 11 in 1991 to perform in Pier Class with the Young Pleasance. I knew then that I wanted to live here in Edinburgh and be on the stage.

10. Can you sum up the show in three words?

Camp As Xmas!

(Image: Agent Cooper (L) and Miss Annabel Sings (R). Rod Penn)

And a bonus round of quick-fire Christmas Questions...

-  Best part of Christmas dinner?

AC: Seconds.

-  Favourite Christmas film?

MAS: Gremlins or Elf.

AC: Anything that isn’t The Snowman.

-  And to finish off, what classic Christmas tune can you not stand?

MAS: Bowie & Bing – should’ve been great…what were they doing?!

AC: Mr Blobby. Just. No. I’m often troubled by the thought of who or what was under that suit. *Shudder*

The Miss Annabel Sings Show Camp as Xmas Cabaret Sun 3 Dec BOOK NOW