Death Drop – Gaiety Theatre – Review
by Fran Winston

26th Oct. – 30th Oct

This camp comedy arrives in Dublin direct from the West End. With a cast full of leading drag performers, the big draws are Ru-Paul’s drag race US legends Willam and Ra’Jah O’Hara and it was clear from the audience reactions that they have a strong Irish fan base.

Set in 1991 this follows all the standard tropes of the murder mystery but with a drag twist (Dragatha Christie if you will). A group of strangers, who all have skeletons in their closets, gather in a big house on a stormy evening and start getting knocked off one by one as the survivors try to figure out who is the murderer in their midst. As the finger-pointing and suspicions get ever more intense it becomes apparent that no one is who they seem and we are treated to outrageous one-liners, sing-alongs and a whole lot of attitude.

This rattles along at a frenetic pace and the energy of the cast is infectious. While much of the first act is spent introducing the characters, it still produces plenty of belly laughs but the show really comes into its own in the second act as the characters’ facades fall away and we finally get to the bottom of the mystery.

Each performer gets their moment in the spotlight, and they all take the opportunity and run with it. There are plenty of meta moments and in a nice touch, they have adapted the script in some parts to include Irish references which went down really well with the audience.

At its heart, this is a good old fashioned whodunnit that generates plenty of laughs. It is outrageous and riotous with lots of twists and turns and it will leave you with a big smile on your face. It is silly, camptastic fun and you will be giggling for hours thinking of some of the one-liners.

Tickets from €21. Runs until October 30th. Shows 8pm nightly except October 29th at 8.30pm. Early show Friday 29th at 5.30pm. Saturday matinee October 30th at 4pm.

Proof of CoVid vaccination or immunity required for entry.