Dressed in a rainbow, sequinned bat-wing dress that looks something like disco fairy bread and carrying a sparkly rainbow wand, Polly Tickle (pronounced like poli-tical) is the Fairy Drag Mother you never knew you needed.
But Polly isn’t the only star of one-person show Queer as Flux. Performer, writer and trans-masculine, non-binary, perpetual-12-year-old-boy Zac Callaghan also features , along with their younger, tomboy self “Tommy”, or so-called Stacey. There’s also some clever props; two unassuming black boxes that later become a star-spangled Mardi Gras float, then a ship out on the ocean, and finally two deep-voiced wise-worded whales.
Using this host of characters and props, as well as a cheeky slideshow projected up high behind them, Zac and Polly take us on a queer history lesson mixed with a very intimate look at their life, loves, and near-death experiences. Zac is a talented performer, switching from sassy drag queen, to husky-voiced young trans person with nothing but a hand-flick and a crossing of their legs. Some of their stories are desperately sad, but they are punctuated with a relentless optimism that involves naming their “superpowers” and corresponding “kryptonites” as they constantly change – “my superpower is sensitivity”, “my superpower is strength”, “my ADHD is my superpower… and my kryptonite”.
It’s fast-paced, which can sometimes be overwhelming, bordering on information overload, but after the first few “transitions” the rhythm clicks into place. The history lessons are aimed at those who aren’t already painfully aware of our own history as queer and trans people, but the way they are intertwined with Zac’s stories makes them feel just that little bit more intimate. Big concepts like protest, politics, death, dying and love can be difficult to portray on the stage without anchoring them to something – but Zac and director Leah Mercer do their absolute best to bring them down to earth.
Rather than overtly telling us that everything and everyone is in a constant state of flux, Zac shows us. They show us their young self, they show us their lesbian Mardi Gras self (with the help of some hilarious balloon boobs), they show us their circus self, they show us their pre- and post-multiple-surgeries self, and they also show us their queer ancestral selves through Polly Tickle’s wordy, witty lessons. There are moments in the show that should read like tragedy, but this is really a story of strength, and the power of shared history and shared joy.
If you can open yourself up to doing some learning at the theatre, Polly and Zac are some wonderful and exciting teachers to learn from. Catch them before they flit onto their next transition.
Queer as Flux is performing a limited run at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Unwrapped series from November 24-26, 2022. Get your tickets and find out more here.
