Snow White (the all-drag panto) – so camp it should come with tent pegs!

2025 marks the fifth anniversary of TuckShop’s all-drag pantomime stage shows. Created to provide a platform for drag performers to be noticed outside of gay bars and on the big stage, the show was created and directed by Christopher D. Clegg.

This years show has been beautifully written by Kate Butch and Crudi Dench (with additional material by Eleanor Mason). The writing manages to be outrageously camp but not go over the top into crudeness.

The gorgeous costumes looked like they had just come off of the runway and everything really came together nicely.

The all-star cast is truly wonderful. I’ve never really got into the Drag Race TV Show thing and so didn’t know who many of them are but after the joy of this show, perhaps I’ll give it another go.

I can’t mention everyone but each queen (or king) was superb. I especially enjoyed:

• Kitty Scott-Claus (Drag Race UK Season 3 & Global All Stars runner up, Gals Aloud, The Diana Mixtape) as the hilarious Magical Mystery Fairy
• Kate Butch (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 5 contestant, Celebrity Mastermind winner BBC) brought some real political comedy to the role, on a gender identity journey, wanting to be known as the HuntsThem (instead of HuntsMan)
• Yshee Black (JOY, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Late Night Lycett) was brilliant as the Magic Mirror, wearing nothing but a green body suit and a picture frame around her neck.

Also in the cast are:

• Kyran Thrax (Drag Race UK Season 6 winner) as the Wicked Queen
• Tayris Mongardi (Drag Race UK Season 7 contestant) as Snow White
• Oliver Clothezoff (2025’s The Great British Bake Off – the show’s first drag king contestant) as Drag King Prince
• Tiana Biscuit (Hello,Tiana, Everybody’s Talking about Tiana, Sinderella) as The Housemates
• TikTok Star; Sophia Stardust as Page
• Ophelia Love (Gals Aloud, Peter Pan, The Real HAUSwives of London, Sleeping Beauty) as Villager no.4

Having a Drag King in the show really helped to serve as a reminder that Drag is for everyone. From the earliest days of theatre, men have been playing women and women playing men.

In the modern world where so much misinformation and hate is spread in the media about gender and identity, this is a wonderful reminder that gender is fluid.

Watching the show, I wondered about the history of Drag Queens singing live. I always thought the fun in drag performances was the lip syncing to pre recorded tracks, making weird and wonderful facial expressions. But in more modern days there seems to be a lot more live vocals performed. Some of the voices in the show were great but others not – and especially with all the dancing, I wondered if it might be better to perform to tracks.

The Emerald Theatre on London’s Embankment is a beautiful venue (one i’ve not visited before) with comfortable seats and an upmarket cabaret vibe. Don’t be tricked into buying a £75 bottle of wine though like I did, as there was no sign of any prices – so make sure you ask before ordering as it felt sinister, like they were purposely not disclosing the prices.

SNOW WHITE which is running at the Emerald Theatre in the West End for a strictly limited season until Sunday 4 January 2026.

★★★★★

West End Wilma

Photos: Harry Elletson

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