If you told me that there was a show where a Middle English tale met the KitKat Club by way of Top Of The Pops – and that it worked – I would most likely have called you nuts before tonight. But that is precisely what ‘Wench’ is. And more. Cleverly and tightly scripted with acid-smart songs, this cabaret performance championing feminine vivacity and integrity through the ages is witty, clever, and has a star turn centre stage from creator and Drag Idol UK winner Felix Le Freak. They’re classy and bolshy, vibrant and devil-may-care, as pitchforked villagers and the gutter press hound them for a vitality that will not be denied.
‘Wench’ is a drag musical of four sections. It starts with what feels like a lost Chaucerian chapter of ‘The Canterbury Tales’, playing the bawdy boisterous girl who is magnetic to all, not least her chief prosecutor William Pike. This is sharply done, paying attention to period-suitable vocabulary, cadence, and rhythm, the language is poetic and cheeky both when spoken and when sung. Next, she is scintillating as the host of a deliciously decadent Weimar Republic club, conjuring every bit of a KitKat Klub rivally vibe, and crossed by Herr William Pike of a certain ministry. The story of flying high and refusing shame echoes on as an 80s pop starlet, and a more contemporary working girl completing the quartet. Each thwarted in their free spirits by the hypocrite ‘Pike’.
This, for the most part, is a lesson in how elevated drag can be. Le Freak has a highly enjoyable stage presence, and delivers some astonishing diction of the smart and pithy lyrics, as well as a great attitude and rapport. It’s thoughtful while it’s funny, like drag is at its best. The fact that the second half of the show is weaker in its performance is addressed by Le Freak as an under-rehearsal issue, but the bones are more than there to show that the quality of the first half is set to be mirrored once that is out of the way.
Loud women have been upsetting menfolk since time immemorial, is the message from ‘Wench’, and it’s said with wit and sass. Those who don’t fit the approved mould have their own tragic destinies to contend with, but the good news is they also get the best tunes and the smartest lines. And sometimes they even have jazz hands.
Ironworks Studios (Studio C), 18-19 May 2026, 8pm, £13/10
