Relish Theatre’s Regeneration Season: A Queer Theatrical Experiment

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Relish Theatre’s upcoming 2025 season, Regeneration, brings together three productions that explore political and social issues through a queer lens. The season presents Acid’s Reign, Oh My Pain, My Beautiful Pain!, and Puppy, each tackling different themes with a combination of satire, performance, and theatrical experimentation.

At the heart of the season is an effort to challenge conventional storytelling practices while engaging with topics such as climate change, the commodification of trauma, and feminist perspectives on sexuality. Creatives involved in two of the productions this season were kind enough to discuss the themes, creative challenges, and motivations behind their work with us…

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Acid’s Reign: Drag and Climate Crisis

“Acid’s Reign is a drag cabaret musical about climate change and the problems involved in making a drag cabaret musical about climate change,” says performer Ash Weir. “But like, in a fun way!”

The production examines the intersection of climate discourse and queer performance, while also questioning how corporate interests shape the narrative on both fronts. “Without wanting to be too doom and gloom about it, the climate emergency is having an increasingly tangible effect on our lives, while queer rights are being attacked and co-opted as a smokescreen for some of the greatest political atrocities in living history, and apathy about both these issues is on the rise,” Weir explains. “We don’t seek to solve these issues in the show (I mean, imagine if we could!), but they do very much inform it.”

Balancing entertainment with social commentary has been a central challenge. “I’m a fairly new addition to this show—it had a former life at the Vaults which (rudely!!!) did not involve me. I guess one difficulty has been balancing the fun of it all against the more serious themes without being either overwhelmingly glib or depressing,” Weir notes. The show’s creative process has also required performers to step outside their comfort zones, with Weir citing challenges such as learning drag makeup and mastering Sondheim-style patter. “On a more personal note, it seems like whenever I do a new show I’m asked to do something I’m not 100% sure I’m capable of—magic, accents, cheerleading etc.—and in this case, it was Sondheim patter and drag makeup, both of which are certainly challenging in their own right!”

The production also seeks to provoke audiences into thinking critically about how corporations leverage queer and environmental activism for their own ends. “I hope the audience members who have perhaps not heard of green or pink-washing leave being more critical about the way in which big corporations co-opt queer and green messaging for their own profit. More generally, I hope everyone leaves wanting to see more drag and new writing!”

Weir also reflects on what this production reveals about its creators: “One of the gorgeous things about new writing and having such a collaborative creative team is that you really get the opportunity to mould your characters from scratch, so I think you can tell quite a lot! Some of us have drag personae outside of the show who are being drawn from/challenged by our characters’ drag, we have MT actors, comedians, improvisers, singer/songwriters and dancers. It’s a real mixed bag, but I think that’s what makes it feel so true to life! Most of all I hope you can tell how much love we have for the show and for each other.”

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Oh My Pain, My Beautiful Pain!: Interrogating Trauma Narratives

Oh My Pain, My Beautiful Pain! turns its focus to how the entertainment industry capitalizes on trauma, particularly when it comes to women and AFAB individuals. Performer Posey Mehta describes it as “a rich exploration of how the entertainment industry milks women and AFAB people for their trauma, effectively trapping them in this vicious cycle of needing to endlessly create more trauma to feed the machine.”

The production arrives at a time when conversations around #MeToo and the public discussion of trauma have become increasingly complex. “Thanks to the #MeToo movement, we’ve seen so much in the media about female trauma, but we rarely see what happens after that,” Mehta notes. “This feels like a very timely exploration of the trickiness of navigating the legacy of ‘going public’ about sexual abuse, and how that process can become similarly exploitative.”

Structurally, the show blends cabaret with more serious moments, a dynamic that the creative team worked hard to refine. “The show walks a tightrope between the seriousness of its themes and the silliness and joy of queer cabaret. I think a lot of our work was around making sure those moments when we jumped from one to another felt like they were really enriching and deepening that exploration, rather than undercutting it.”

The play also raises questions about audience consumption of trauma narratives. “I hope it challenges them to question and interrogate their own consumption of female trauma: Why are we all so drawn to true crime? Why do we have this morbid fascination with bad things happening to women? And what does this fascination do to those women?”

Mehta also highlights the play’s impact on its cast and creative team. “Honestly, I think this production speaks most to the incredible mind of Evie Fehilly: her ability to weave all these different thematic and tonal threads together to create something that interrogates without exploiting. It’s been such a great opportunity to explore our range as creatives; rarely are you given permission to jump between campy drag numbers and emotionally grounded scenes in this way, and it’s been a delight to flex (and build) those muscles.”

Beyond its subject matter, the production process itself aimed to avoid replicating the patterns it critiques. “One of the most interesting questions this production posed is how we as creatives can explore this topic without falling into the same trap of exploiting our own trauma in the process. This has been one of the most considered and compassionate creative processes I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in, and I think Relish has really set the benchmark for how to safely and ethically make work about trauma.”

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The Broader Context of Regeneration

Through Acid’s Reign and Oh My Pain, My Beautiful Pain!, Relish Theatre are presenting productions that engage with social and political issues while experimenting with theatrical form. The season as a whole adopts a repertory model in an effort to make independent theatre production more sustainable.

Rob Ellis, Executive Director of Relish Theatre, has noted that this structure allows for resource-sharing and extended contracts for artists, while also aiming to build audience engagement over a shorter time frame. While the model presents logistical challenges, the company clearly sees it as an opportunity to rethink how new writing can be staged and supported.

Featured Image: Acid’s Reign Production Shots-7 –provided by Mobius P.R.

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The Regeneration season will play at Pleasance Theatre and King’s Head Theatre until April 27, 2025. For tickets and information, click here.

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