Soho Theatre, London – until 29 July 2023
Reviewed by Alun Hood
2**
Naming your show after the self-appointed “Queen of people’s hearts”, while trailing quotes from such queer luminaries as Mx Justin Vivian Bond, and promising a “tour-de-force…one person musical spectacular” in the advertising blurb, sets up a certain anticipation of what audiences can expect from Peter Smith’s Diana. Personally, I was hoping for something queer, camp, outrageous, with a hint of the poignant. What I got was something quite different, and a show that requires a certain amount of processing.
At first appearance, Smith is likeable, fey; a charming American commenting on celebrity, the concept of the late Princess Diana as a global icon, particularly in the light of the infamous Martin Bashir interview, and UK current affairs, including the BBC’s regrettable image problems. However, that’s the tip of the self-indulgent iceberg. Smith is a statuesque presence with a persuasive, idiosyncratic singing voice. However, at least on the strength of this brief yet oddly interminable show, Smith appears desperately in need of a dramaturg and a strong director.
Smith is less interested in Diana than in, well, Smith, and certainly doesn’t seem bothered about giving the bewildered audience much to enjoy, or even cling on to. The show is a confusing, messy, impenetrable. It’s neither particularly funny nor illuminating, seldom clarifying whether we are watching Smith or a version of Diana (there are sinister references to “my ex-husband’s family” and their various misdeeds) as topics such as divorce, AIDS, women’s reproductive organs and celebrities including Elton John, Streisand and the infamous Ghislaine Maxwell, are thrown around. Anybody with an aversion to psychobabble will have a particularly frustrating time.
Far more stimulating than all that is a section where Smith considers the unique relationship and dynamic between performer and audiences, but none of it really catches fire. The songs, which have an electropop disco-y feel, are striking, as is the visual aesthetic of light tubes and elegantly outlandish costumes. The original version of the show apparently featured lip synching to the real Diana, but Smith couldn’t secure the copyright for this iteration, so has created an alternative format here but one can’t help but wonder if hearing the Princess’s actual voice would have helped elucidate what is going on here.
A darling of the New York cabaret scene, Smith is charismatic and talented. It’s just a shame that this sombre, intense show feels more like something that should be bashed out on a psychoanalyst’s coach rather than performed in public for paying customers. “Let’s dance, baby” Smith says at one point, in the midst of referring to Diana’s fabled terpsichorean ambitions…. sadly, I didn’t feel much like dancing after this.