Category Is plans fairytale drag night for Pride

Category Is is not yet one year old and now it’s back with an extra-special cabaret night for Pride on Saturday, July 7.

Category Is events have been sell-out successes but it remains one of few drag stages in the city. Bristol’s drag scene has not had the vibrancy that London, Brighton, and Manchester enjoy, but this could all be about to change if the artistic director and co-organiser Alyssa van Delle has her way.

Alyssa is soon to host a drag competition to support the drag scene in Bristol

“When we discussed the idea of Category Is,” Alyssa begins, “we kept saying Bristol needs a bigger and louder drag scene because, at the moment, it is quite underground. Bristol is so diverse and artistic and I think drag is an important strand of that culture. Bristol deserves a really good drag scene that puts us level with Brighton and Manchester.”

The show’s co-producer Clare Lowe says that it is rewarding to maintain a queer space at the Old Market Assembly. “I remember it from the Flamingos days,” Clare reveals, “and am proud of the building’s heritage as a community hub and would like to think we are helping to keep that alive.”

Their next event welcomes American drag royalty Sherry Vine and UK stars Anna Phylactic, Donna Trump, Baga Chipz and Coco Deville.

The team welcome lots of well-known performers from across the UK to The Old Market Assembly including Donna Trump

Although Category Is doesn’t invite the celebrity alumni of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the show is, in Alyssa’s words, “the answer to pretty much everything”. The near-universal appeal of drag is something she says, five years ago, could not have been predicted. “Drag Race has made drag so cool. It has opened drag to mothers and daughters which is making our shows are so varied – it’s not just the gay community that is interested. That diversity is so important because it is enabling the night to be a success.”

Sherry Vine is a huge performer in America and one of the world’s favourite comedy queens

Each generation has different expectations and Alyssa says it is important to perfect every style. The older audiences “grew up with Cilla Black and Lily Savage and want banter” but the younger audiences tend to want death drops, glam looks, and lip syncs. But as Clare notes, growing up as a ‘tomboyish’ girl who hated makeup, it is the attitude of drag that appeals across the generations. “I am bisexual and non-binary,” Clare says, “and it can feel pretty lonely within the gay scene. Drag kings I have met have been especially influential. The dedication and seeing how hard people work to showcase their art is very inspirational.”

Anna Phylactic is one of Britains best-known drag artists and describes herself as a Tim Burton-esque glamour clown

Within the current climate, Clare says it can feel very difficult to find and create these spaces and make them safe for everyone. “Queer people of colour say they don’t feel confident to respond to casting calls,” Clare states sadly,  “And there is a lack of female representation both performing and promoting too.”

“We take pride in the fact that all the performers are paid,” Alyssa adds. “It doesn’t always happen in the drag scene. It shouldn’t be happening but it does and it’s killing the scene,” she argues.

The shopping list for Alyssa alone is wince-inducing. Checking off the costs, the bill for her fairy tale looks includes £500-worth of costumes, £260-worth of new wigs, and makeup costing about £50. Not paying performers is a surefire way to ensure they do not make a career of it.

Alyssa takes great pride in her heritage but laughs, “being Italian was an expensive mistake. The tailoring has to be perfect”.

Baga Chipz is a uniquely British performer and describes herself as the undisputed queen of the battered sausage

The show is actively investing in the drag queens of tomorrow. A showcase before the main event welcomes three local and untried performers to the stage, but Alyssa was being sent so many messages that she felt it was time to do something more. “This is the first time we’ve announced this. We’ll be holding a drag competition on Sunday, July 1. People are signing up from across the West Country and we’re looking to welcome 10 competitors to be judged by a panel of industry professionals. We want to make this the platform that makes Bristol a big stage for drag.”

Coco Deville is a pioneer of neo-burlesque, a fan of Jeremy Corbyn, and even given a TED Talk on creativity

Category Is will be held at Old Market Assembly on Saturday, July 7. Tickets are £15.

Read More: What’s on this Pride