By Erasmus Baxter
Dawn of the Drag, a performance by the Drag Guns, a local Drag King group, will be unique for several reasons, according to Hadrian Starr, a member of the group.
First, as Drag Kings instead of Drag Queens the performers will be performing as men instead of the more common idea of performing as women.
“There aren’t really a lot of Drag Kings in the area,” Starr said. “It’s not quite as popular or well known as drag queens.”
Secondly, the show will be open to all-ages.
“A lot of drag events that happen, typically happen in bars, so that limits the crowd to 21 and over,” Starr said.
They said that when they began promoting the group they found that many of those interested were too young to go to bars.
“We have people who … were interested in doing drag but because it was typically done at bars weren’t able to participate,” Starr said. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted to do an all-ages show is so that we could include younger performers who aren’t able to have that opportunity usually.”
This will be the Drag Guns’ first show.
“There’s going to be a wide variety of performances and styles because [for] some performers this will be their very first time performing,” Starr said.
The Drag Guns have only been around for about 6 months, they said.
The group was founded in April by Sadlah Perkins, who had seen several drag performances at Rumors Cabaret, a local nightclub.
“[She] said I want to do this, and realized it would be nice to have a community of performers who were interested in doing it,” Starr said.
Starr became involved in June after Perkins saw a photo of them in drag on Facebook and reached out. Before that they had been performing as a Drag King independently for around a year and a half.
Currently there are around six active members according to Starr, though they say the number fluctuates.
“We’re looking for more people all the time,” they said.
All proceeds from the show will go to Northwest Youth Services, a local charity that helps homeless and low-income youth. It has a division called the Queer Youth Project that provides special resources for LQBTQ+ youth who are homeless or are experiencing challenges at home. Twenty percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.
The proceeds from the show have been earmarked to go to the Queer Youth Project, according to Starr.
“All of the money that we are raising is going to stay local, and all of our fundraisers we’re planning on doing will stay local, and will benefit the local LGBTQ community in some way,” they said.
The show is Halloween themed and will also feature an audience costume contest. There will be prizes with costumes judged on creativity, uniqueness, and audience feedback.
“[The audience is] encouraged to come dressed up however they would like to. They don’t have to come in drag,” Starr said.
The show will take place at Make.Shift on October 21, starting at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10.
