The Mansion House has hosted many uproarious and entertaining evenings in its long history – but nothing quite like this.
The famous York building will premiere a play centred around the lives of a trans woman, a cis gay man and a Muslim drag queen this Friday (June 29) in what has been hailed as a ‘wonderful collaboration’.
It stars – and is inspired by – three of London’s most dynamic cabaret artists, Le Strange, Mzz Kimberley and The Nightbus.
Written by University of York graduate Adam Perchard Tales of Fashionable Life sees pop, opera, comedy, history, tragedy, and multiple bonnets collide.
Dynamic cabaret artists
Le Strange, Mzz Kimberley and The Nightbus take on the multiple characters of the novel as their own 21st century stories of social struggle and metamorphosis unfold.
- Fri Jun 29 @ 7.30pm
- Mansion House, St Helen’s Square, York
- £6-£8
- More details
Part-commissioned by the University of York to mark the 250th anniversary of Edgeworth’s birth, Perchard’s play moves across the centuries to ask questions about prejudice and Pride, race, gender, identity and how many Madonna songs you can fit into a period drama!
The play is described as a “work-in-progress queer cabaret” and writer Adam Perchard is delighted to be staging it in York:
I am thrilled to be premiering my first play in York, in the stunning historic Mansion House, before it opens on the London stage.
My time studying and being part of the LGBT community here was hugely formative, and I’m very proud to be bringing some of London’s brightest cabaret stars to a city that has given me so much.
The show will be followed with a discussion and Q&A by two world-renowned Maria Edgeworth experts, Professor Gillian Russell and Dr Susan Manly.
Cllr Keith Aspden, executive member for economic development and community engagement, said:
It’s wonderful to see the Mansion House collaborating on modern and interesting projects with the University of York’s Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies and working with the LGBT community.
This project reflects and showcases the talent in York.