Underbelly, Bristo Square
Aug 6-11, 13-25 (15:55)

Divine got to The Underbelly just in time, having picked up my tickets for this fabulous Femme Fatale – I was breaking out into quite a sweat as I didn’t want to miss this one. The alternative title of Ms Dubois performance, Morbid Drag Queen had been rattling around my head all morning. As subject matters go, presenting her own funeral as a show is quite something. The essence of Myra’s Dead Funny is based on her attending previous funerals, which had left this Yorkshire Drag Auntie feeling there was something lacking in the send-offs she had experienced. I must say this did not rank highly on the Divine appeal factor, and I was half-expecting this to be an ill-attended performance. I was to be mistaken, as the queue to the Buttercup stretched far and long. Myra Dubois is something of a celebrity in her native Yorkshire and her reputation had ensured a packed house.

A parody of the Death card from the ancient Tarot, Ms Dubois came across as everyone’s favourite suicidal Auntie. Caring soothsayer and hexing dark witch all rolled into one. With bundles of audience participation – a genuine therapy session for all concerned – she invited us to witness her demise at the end of the performance. Genuinely funny, with a twist in the tale that I refuse to reveal as a spoiler. Myra possesses, dark humor most definitely, but her audience were in hysterics and her takes on modern classic songs such as Why? by Annie Lennox, offered a full chorus sing-a-long. This was a brilliant performance, if not a little disturbing, & not one for the recently bereaved.

Mark ‘Divine’ Calvert