Joyfulcreationwarmly embracesallcomers
Diary Of A Gay Disaster
Underbelly, Cowgate (Venue 61) until 25 August
Ellis is having a recurring dream. Two gods of Sapphic desire just keep popping up in her nocturnal imagination, reminding her of people, places and things from her past, stuff she really needs to sort out. Can’t they just leave her alone to sleep? Not, it turns out when they materialise to her (apparently) waking self, until she deals with her reams of unfinished business – as catalogued in the mysterious daily journal of the show’s title.
And that unfinished business is a roll-call of worries, concerns and frustrations for young queer women, all ticked off and flung aside with rapier wit and insight in writer/ composer Rachael Mailer’s dashing, vibrant threehander from young company Upfront Theatre. As the pages of the diary turn, so the supernatural entities find themselves sucked into Ellis’s experiences, and recalling new ones too – from overinterpreting queer signals to defending bisexuality, from coming-out trauma to pandering to male fantasies.
OK, if you don’t happen to be a queer young woman yourself (and clearly I’m not), there might be stuff here that doesn’t hit you with quite the same personal resonance. But it’ll still hit you with the full force of Mailer’s smart, sassy wordplay and the sheer blazing energy from the trio of performers – whose every glance and gesture conveys character and meaning. Mailer’s songs, too, joyfully embrace everything from hardcore punk to bubblegum girlband pop, and most importantly they’re expertly crafted, memorable and seriously funny too – check out Tiktok hit “Is she queer or just a hipster?” for evidence of that.
At times, Diary Of A Gay Disaster feels like a latenight lesbian party, but it’s clever enough, too, to calm things down with moments of thoughtful reflection – and importantly, it takes its audience with it on that journey. Likewise, it might have been easier to make a show aimed squarely at a narrow demographic, but Mailer’s exuberant, joyful creation is as warmly embracing of all comers as it is barbed, bracing and perceptive.