Panti is back at the Project until Saturday and I urge you to go see this show if you possibly can. Book here now.

This is not the sort of show one would expect from a drag artist – or, perhaps, if one only associates drag artists with camp bints of nonsense. However, in exactly the same way that Dolly Parton spends a fortune to look so cheap, the camp persona of Panti, that has been constructed so cleverly, consciously, and artfully, reveals an enormous amount about Rory O’Neill, her creator, in this intense and intimate performance. By the end of the show something powerful happens, and an emotional vulnerability and openness becomes vividly apparent. It is done so subtly, with such charm and wit, it takes my breath away recalling it.

Panti’s every gesture and move is studied, statuesque, and she is as disciplined as a Marceau mime artist. Panti makes the point that lip-syncing is not as simple as it might appear – and by inviting attention to her craft it then becomes obvious that Panti has made it an art-form. She has a unique style that is incredibly precise, but slightly surreal – lips that are elastic, almost cartoonish, nudging naturalism out of the way and flirting with the slightly grotesque in a post-modern sense, that makes it constantly obvious she’s not really singing, but nonetheless it is utterly compelling and dramatic. This promo for the show on youtube is perfection – and yet it exposes only the elegance of Panti. There is serious, brave material in this show – thought-provoking questions on gender and men and sex and sexuality, on the plight of being a tranny and not really enjoying tranny-chasers, on finding gay men attractive but realising that gay men tend not to go for trannies. The loneliness of that, the gentleness behind that.
It takes balls to be this honest. It takes a lot of talent, however, to make such honesty funny and stylish. Don’t miss this show.