Diary Of A Dublin Drag Diva – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review
by Fran Winston

Diary Of A Dublin Drag Diva
Davina Devine

Performances – 9 Sept, 18:00 (preview), 10 Sept, 18:00, 11 Sept, 20:00, 13 – 14 Sept, 20:00, 14 Sept, 13:00
NEW DATE ADDED 19 Sep, 18:15 – Smock Alley Theatre – Main Space

Venue – Bewley’s Café Theatre – at Bewley’s Café

I have seen drag queen Davina Devine in action many times over the years. She regularly performs at clubs and nights I go to, and, pre-COVID lockdowns, I was a big fan of the Drag Brunch she was part of one Sunday a month.

In my mind, she has always looked like the Queen you see on the poster for this, her debut one-woman show. So, I got quite the surprise to realise what a glow up she has had over the years as she took the audience on a trip down memory lane as she recounted her 23 years in the business.

Arriving on stage looking suitably glamorous (and very pink), she suffered a minor technical hitch when her headset microphone wouldn’t work, but, ever the pro, she swapped it out for a sparkly hand mic and the show continued seamlessly.

This is not the all lip-synching, all dancing shows you may have seen her do before, and instead it tells the story of how she went from a child in Ringsend dreaming of stardom to one of the best known and busiest drag queens in the country. She shows photos and clips from her journey while filling in the gaps in her own inimitable style with humour and, at times, pathos.

To be fair, her stage ambitions got off to a good start when she was one of the children selected to appear on stage with Michael Jackson in Lansdowne Road in 1992 during his Dangerous tour.

From there, her career stalls somewhat, and she works in a chipper as she tries to figure out how to get back on stage. Then she discovers drag. Showing her early attempts from the year 2000, she blames the awful fashions of the era on her look.

She shows clips and images that most of us would delete (including a hilarious video she and fellow drag artist April Showers made to accompany their performance at the Alternative Miss Ireland), accepting this is all part of her story. You can see her gradually getting more polished in these as her look and stage technique improve.

She also titillates the audience with stories of her love life and heartbreak (just who is the serving TD she had a fling with, I wonder!) She is extremely candid during this segment and manages to turn a devastating break-up story into something entertaining as she utilises some famous celebrity separations to illustrate the tale.

There is also an Ask Me Anything at the end, in which she answers questions submitted by the audience before the show began. I have seen similar segments go horribly wrong in other shows, but years of working the audience in clubs have ensured she can think on her feet, and this works. However, it feels like an unnecessary addition as the show feels complete without it.

This is funny and engaging, and Davina’s story is a truly fascinating one. She shares it with fabulous wit, and the humour never feels forced. It definitely helped that I knew the various venues and shows she was talking about, as it added an extra layer to the show. However, it is not a necessity to enjoy this.

Even if you are familiar with her work, this is Davina as you have never seen her before – she is vulnerable and open, and by the end, you just want to give her a hug. It definitely wasn’t the show I was expecting – it was better.