All hail the Kween

“I attempted to write something about self-love that makes it ok to not know everything about yourself,” says Rebecca Humphries, the creator of the award-winning musical, Prom Kween.

With heaps of satire and with an astute eye for detail, Prom Kween is inspired by Matthew Crisson, the first non-binary student in America to be crowned Prom Queen – an event that, in 2016, created a media storm.

Rooted in the familiar genre of high school musicals, it eschews clichés and tropes but ultimately reflects that self-love trumps cliques any day.

“I loved the idea of a traditional high school musical being brought up-to-date by tapping into the cultural shift happening today,” Rebecca explains. “But as it progressed it became clear that I wanted to parody the countless movies and musicals that portray teenage life – all poles apart from the actual teenage experience.”

Prom Kween features lots of celebrity cameos, including RuPaul ©The Other Richard

But, Rebecca says, beneath the frothy camp fun, Prom Kween does pose a serious question about how one country can champion progression and freedom whilst remaining so intolerant.

Last year, Prom Kween picked up accolades including The Stage Best Ensemble Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. Now, with updated songs and pop-culture references, this coming-of-age satire will parody High School teen flicks and skewer gender magnificently when it arrives at the Wardrobe Theatre on Tuesday, September 11.

The humour of the musical relies in-part on parodies of classic songs – from bubblegum pop to gospel to honky-tonk country – each of song is given a distinctive new personality. Rebecca’s favourite is a homage to Nicki Minaj which is joined by salutes to Grease, Spice Girls, Wizard of Oz and Beyoncé. There are lots of cameos too, most notably a hilarious portrayal of drag star RuPaul.

The attraction of the genre to audiences is, in Rebecca’s mind, hindsight. Everything at school “seems so bloody important, the stakes are so high” and it becomes our most valuable lesson when we appreciate how deceptive appearances can be and how time can render things meaningless. Everyone, she says, can “enjoy an eye-roll” when watching Prom Kween.

Prom Kween started life on the Edinburgh Fringe and became a hit for challenging concepts of gender ©The Other Richard

One important lesson Prom Kween draws is on gender. Rebecca says, by “normalising a non-binary protagonist”, the play follows in the strand of hit-TV shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race that present non-traditional role models to young audiences and set a precedent of “prioritising kindness and love” over conforming to male stereotypes.

“I’m incredibly proud of the response, in particular from people who either have a very strong association with the non-binary community or from those who knew nothing about it. That’s the point, isn’t it? To bring people together.”

Writing Prom Kween has “certainly made me a lot more sensitive about my language,” Rebecca explains, and has given her, “a real awareness of the voices we are hearing in theatre because there is still a long way to go in terms of diversity.”

The ensemble cast shares the titular role and explores the different facets of identity ©The Other Richard

News of Matthew Crisson’s victory filled newspaper columns for months. Considering one article from Teen Vogue, Rebecca says it is clear people still do not appreciate that this issue should not be framed as male versus female. The article from 2016 said: “The student’s frustration of being overlooked as women is certainly not unjustified – women, from school age onward, are consistently given less credit and more impossible standards, likely fueling such a reaction.”

The article concludes that Matthew should be embraced for their difference, but Rebecca says: “‘Women’ is repeatedly used, which strongly suggests that Matthew is the opposite sex. That is not how Matthew identifies. This is about gender fluidity, which is completely different and a totally unrelated conversation.”

In today’s social media-driven culture, adolescents can more readily interact with famous people but this can be underpinned by superficiality, Rebecca warns. “In this age, you see young people in the media with such clear ‘brands’ who are attempting to be relatable to teenagers.”

Returning to her original inspiration for Prom Kween, she adds: “I think there will always be a part of us that feels as if no one really understands. And that’s absolutely fine. In fact, it should be celebrated.”

Prom Kween is playing at The Wardrobe Theatre from September 11-15. Tickets are £12.50.

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