The violin swells and three mythical figures appear. Ready to take on the baddies in their large boa, dragon wings and a pink wig, the queens enter.
Dungeons and Drag Queens is produced by the Dungeon Master Paul Curry and accompanying violinist Carson Grubb. The show originated in Seattle, and the Queens came to WOW Hall on Friday, May 24.
Tinashea Monét is based out of Seattle and has been a queen for the show since its inception. She said for each of the stops of the tour they usually audition local queens and pair them with a permanent member of the cast.
“There’s a lot of rules with Dungeons and Dragons, and we want it to be an easy storytelling adventure, but it’s also a comedy show,” Monét said.
Monét plays Tinashea the Fey, “The Sorceress Supreme, born with the utmost knowledge of different dimensions.”
The locally casted queens are Shirley Mental and Wanda Aqua Flora— portraying Shirley the Mentalist, “an elf mage whose goals in life are to serve fierceness, slay, have a really gorgeous boa and serve”; and Wanda/Aqua of the Flora, the “erotic and aquatic Dragoness from the woods, druid who snatches hearts and occasionally breaks them, but always repairs them.” Both of these queens are sisters at the Haus of Blunt in Eugene, performing at Spectrum Bar.
“I reached out to Paul, and then when the Eugene edition came about, he said, ‘Do you want to do it?’” Aqua Flora said. “I canceled every other gig I had and cleared my schedule. It’s been really cool that I get to be a part of this and I feel very honored to be a part of the history of the show.”
One of the most immersive elements of the show was the live violin accompaniment done by Carson Grubb.
“Music is a language. I’ve been speaking this language for a long time, for most of my life, and I have a certain vocabulary that I put together,” Grubb said. “I try to use individual intervals and motifs to tell the story that’s going on onstage, underscore things, heighten things and play up Paul.”
The live accompaniment certainly heightens the intensity of battles, but also creates an atmosphere for more low-tempo moments, like when the crew is exploring their setting.
Another immersive aspect of the show was how interactive it was, allowing the audience to get engaged, like when someone in one of the front rows became a hairdresser incorporated into the show.
“I like to treat the audience as a crowd because then it’s kind of more immersive for them,” Curry said. “The more you tear the walls down of the world and the more I have to scramble to build it back up; I just think it’s so fun.”
The show flowed so well that it felt almost scripted at times, but that can largely be attributed to the talent the Dungeon Master and the queens have for comedy and performance. The aforementioned hairdresser Emily ended up being melted by lava in an important battle.
“Getting someone pregnant was not something I thought was gonna happen,” Mental said. She is referring to Emily’s reincarnation through male impregnation, something the queens and Curry came up with on the fly through the use of spells.
In Monét’s free time, she likes to play Magic: The Gathering, another game by Wizards of the Coast, D&D’s publisher. This is not her personal favorite fantasy game, but she enjoys getting on stage and performing it to these audiences.
“I think the whole art of drag in itself is not to be taken too seriously,” Monét said. “We’re supposed to be able to take a lot of serious topics and be able to bring them around. You should be able to use your drag in your art to make it light, fun and approachable.”
The blend of drag performers and D&D works so well together that it feels like an obvious conclusion to come to. Taking on a new persona or character is a key aspect of both drag and roleplaying games like D&D.
“It’s a big escapism thing, too. A lot of queer people use it as an escape. I did in high school, and I feel like because of that it feels very powerful,” Mental said.
Dungeons and Drag Queens is the perfect night out for fantasy enjoyers, drag enthusiasts and anyone looking for a good time.
“If you are looking for a night filled with entertainment, comedy, drag and absolute foolishness, I would say go nowhere else but your local stop at a tour near you, in a city near you, for Dungeons and Drag Queens created by Paul Curry Comedy,” Monét said.
Curry credits Seattle writer Matt Baume as the first person who did D&D with drag queens. Once inspired, he created his own version with Grubb and a few queens including Monét.
“Everyone has taken such a large role in shaping what the show is that we’ve all kind of helped create it in a sense,” Curry said.
If you missed out on the WOW Hall showing, the next closest stop will be in Portland at Alberta Abbey on June 14, 2024. I promise you won’t want to miss it.
