Drag with a difference

New York performer Taylor Mac wants to be the opposite of cool.

My show is kind of a reaction to cool, he says. I wanted to break away from this rock star and fame thing and really get down to what it is to be a theatre artist and what it is to really want to make a connection with other people.

As other performers strive for style, Mac prefers substance in his experimental shows. Riotous costumes, buckets of make-up and a sea of sequins are a major part of his performances, but so are pointed political statements and the ukulele.

For Mac, who performs his one-man show at the Sydney Opera House as part of Sydney Festival this month, is a drag queen with a difference.

I come from a tradition of drag that’s not necessarily what the average of person will think of when they think of drag, he says.

I would say I’m a theatre artist working in the genre of pastiche.

In Sydney, Mac will perform a series of shows blending political statements and personal reflections.

It juxtaposes a lot of very political songs and monologues with extremely personal ones.

As the evening goes on, they start to blend together. You start to see that there’s a connection between the personal and the political.

At the end of the evening I hope that people realise that there’s clearly a connection between the two, and any political problem stems from personal problems we have.

Mac has been performing professionally for 17 years. He started his experimental solo shows about four years ago.

I wanted to empower myself so I started to focus more on creating my own work.

I started thinking a lot about gender and art and how we expect one thing when we see a piece of theatre. We expect it to be a comedy or we expect it to be a drama. I’m more interested in a more multi-faceted aesthetic and a performance style that reflects that.

Mac’s use of an exaggerated on-stage persona to explore real-life political issues is reminiscent of fellow New York performers Kiki and Herb, with whom Mac has worked closely.

Like the cabaret duo, Mac explores contemporary gay politics. The focus is mostly on New York, but he says the message is universal.

I’m a queer so I talk about that, and I just expect that people can relate to it, he says.

I talk about my life and I try to be as personal as I can and as truthful as I can and assume that that truth translates to other people.

Right now there’s a climate of fear, which I think is happening in Australia as well. People are using fear as a tactic to manipulate and change laws.

So where does the ukulele fit in?

I chose it primarily because I thought, -˜What is the most uncool instrument I could possibly play?’ Mac explains.

I thought if I was playing the guitar I would be setting up this image of cool.

The guitar is so loaded. The ukulele is such a human, dorky little instrument. I don’t use it for everything I do but I will be playing it in Sydney.

Taylor Mac performs from 15 to 19 January at The Studio, Sydney Opera House. Book on 9250 7777 or 1300 888 412.