James Morgan wants to tell us a story, his story from dragons to drag artist. James collected dragons as a child, model dragons of all types. He tells us about mythical dragons, wyverns and St George. We see projections of virtual dragons in game culture. We learn what the word ‘dragon’ means in urban slang. James even looks like a dragon: skin-tight, lizard-skin trousers; purple/green scaly body make-up; horns and bat-wings. Unfeasibly high platform boots, ultra-long lashes and killer nails complete the drag-artist-dragon look. Pretty impressive; and we’re told that it takes four hours to get ready, which is four times longer than the show. James Morgan must be taking these mythical creatures seriously then.

He marches on to the nearly bare stage, dancing and lip-syncing to Nicki Minaj (Feat. Eminem) “Raah, raah, like a dungeon dragon”. We know we are in for a challenging, thought-provoking show just from the choice of song; with lyrics that couldn’t be printed here. As the music fades serenity ensues. Clutching his folder, projections rolling, James takes the mic and begins his lecture. ‘Fantasy is a tool for rebellion’ he says and explains how he found his identity as a queer youth through escapism. Where there are no cultural icons or role models then we will look for our own and James found them in dragons. ‘Realness is an illusion’ he states and makes a good argument for that. And I agree; after all, which of us portrays our real selves to those around us? Aren’t make-up, designer clothes and hair styles just masquerade-lite? The show contains plenty of quasi-political assertions around gender, sexuality and identity. James imparts his views on all of these and more but falls into the trap of generating new boundaries while trying to eliminate old ones. He makes declarations about attitudes, influences and language in LGBT culture. Although he misses the target a few times James has robust opinions and delivers them with gentle but persuasive arguments. He speaks from a personal perspective and infuses his own experiences and photos into the show.

But it’s not all talk. There is some skilful and impressive dancing and physical theatre. James has an engaging personality and uses it well to charm the admiring young crowd at the Wardrobe Theatre. The audience participation is effective and not overcooked; we see moments of fun link into serious themes. James achieves his dream of becoming a dragon in drag while raising valid points about modern attitudes to gender, although the performance stutters at times and sometimes it doesn’t quite fit together. This show is more effective when it provokes questions rather than trying to answer them and I’d have been happier with more performance and less chat; but James undoubtedly gives us food for thought.   ★★★☆☆   Adrian Mantle    13^th April 2018