As of June 2nd, the anti-drag bill that passed in the state legislature this spring has been declared unconsitutional, violating drag performers’ First Amendment right to free speech by barring them from performing in spaces where minors can view them. But even when this decision hung in the balance just a few days ago, the Emerald Theatre Company (ETC) was determined to embrace drag and the LGBTQ community, no matter what happened, as it closes its 26th season with Drag Queens on Trial.
The semi-dark comedy centers around three drag queens who go from the dressing room to the courtroom to stand trial for the “crime” of being a drag queen. “It’s truly written and played for laughs,” says Hal Harmon, the show’s co-director with Michael Holliday, “but there are some very serious topics and serious dialogue that allows the audience to think about the prejudices that these people face. It showcases their insecurities, how they defy society’s norms, and how they deal with the horrors of the persecution of being who they truly are. Sadly, though the story was written in the 1980s and it takes place in the 1980s, the themes and ideas of persecution, of course, are just as relevant, if not more, today.
“[But] they’re not gonna stop us,” continues Harmon, who also plays one of the drag queens. “We’re still gonna produce a great show.”
This will be the second time ETC performs Drag Queens on Trial, the first time being in 2006. After the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was passed in Florida last year and then other states began to “pick on drag queens,” Harmon says, “I decided it’s time to redo this show. … It is my hope that those who see the show will leave it with hope, and if they have a strong enough voice and they have not used it yet, quite possibly, seeing the show will give them the extra push to let them get loud and be supportive.”
To accompany the production and to celebrate the history of drag in Memphis, photographs from local drag performers from the ’80s to the present will be on display in the TheatreWorks lobby. Looking back on those earlier days, Harmon says that progress has been made since ETC’s founding when fully fleshed-out LGBTQ stories were rarely found on stage. “We knew there were so many stories to tell,” he says. “We worked so hard at that, and we’re ever so happy that now we’re no longer the ‘taboo’ theater company. We’re just another theater company.”
As ETC looks to its 27th season, Harmon hopes to bring in new directors, new voices, new ideas, and new actors. “We’ve already got it planned,” he says. “We’re gonna stay gay.”
Drag Queens on Trial, TheatreWorks, Performances run Friday, June 9-June 18, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., $20, etcmemphistheater.com.