Theatre Royal Wakefield – until 3rd May 2025
Reviewed by Lauren Fordham
5*****+
‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is a musical adapted from the 2011 documentary ‘Drag Queen at 16’. The biographical BBC3 programme is about Jamie Campbell (renamed Jamie New in the musical) who wanted to wear a dress to his school prom and become a drag queen.
‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is expertly handled by Diva Productions’ cast, led by James Banks who is confident and charismatic both physically and vocally as Jamie. That confidence and competence is evident in his and others’ unashamed riffing on the score, which also adds depth to their characterisation.
This is particularly true in the case of Esmae Bloomer in her portrayal of Pritti Pasha, Jamie’s Muslim best friend, whose impressive vocal acrobatics give a contemporary feel to a complex character grappling with historic religious customs in modern society.
But the thing that sets Diva Productions apart from, and in my opinion, elevates them above other theatre companies, is their innovative use of video screens, the brainchild of director and designer, Andrew Ashley. Video screens are used effectively to expand the set and add detail, such as the interior of Jamie’s house, and his classroom, complete with exam countdown and careers poster. They also effectively and evocatively supplement and accentuate the lyrics of and metaphors in the songs. For example, the opening song ‘And You Don’t Even Know It’ features not only videos of ‘the clock on the wall that’s moving too slow,’ but also expanding and shrinking boxes to reflect Jamie’s gender non-conformity and to represent how he cannot be categorised or constrained by his careers teacher, Miss Hedge, or by society as a whole.
As powerful as these tools are, on the one hand, they were absent and arguably rendered unnecessary during the most emotional numbers, Ugly in this Ugly World sung by Jamie, and He’s My Boy, sung by his mother Margaret New, empathetically played by Meg Riley. These are songs that demand to be felt in the heart and visual effects would have only diluted and distracted from the complex emotions that are just as powerful and resonant psychologically as Banks’ and Riley’s voices are physically.
I also want to pay tribute to Charlotte Wallis’ choreography and Andrew Ashley and Nathan Purcell’s lighting design. Wallis’ use of additional dancers alongside Jamie when he sang about climbing ‘The Wall in My Head,’ and Ashley and Purcell’s use of the colours of the trans flag as the sunset dovetailed perfectly to demonstrate that Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is not about one gay boy, but encompasses the queer community as a whole, as everyone faces discrimination they must overcome. The song’s lyrics remind the audience that everyone in society is vulnerable to negative voices and influence so we should all be careful, intentional and thoughtful with our words and actions.
The only low point of the production (bar a few technical screen flickers) wasn’t actually part of the production at all, it came at the end of the show when the screens displayed violent, homophobic rhetoric that had been shared about the show on social media.
These unacceptable attacks simply serve to underscore how important the empowering, inclusive message of ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is, so I implore everyone to get down to the Theatre Royal Wakefield, step into the spotlight, and take up the place where YOU belong before the light goes dark on Saturday 3rd May.