Fierce, Child at the Maidment Studio

By FRANCIS TILL

First, DeeZaStar is divine in that unique and completely flamboyant drag club way, a potent entity of considerable grace, beauty and charm whether on stage or prowling around in the audience.

The one-hour performance in which "club artiste provocateur" Kneel Halt presents as DeeZaStar is still feeling its way, but there's no doubt this spunky, fresh work will flow towards a fuller realisation very quickly.

Billed as a fusion of club performance and theatre, it's clear Halt comes from the club side of things. His opening and closing sequences, done in exotic, mesmerising costumes of his own design and creation, are totally realised and the characters would take a grand marshal award at any Hero Parade in any city.

This is more than a showcase, however. Director and co-author Amanda Rees says she and Halt collaborated on the play to give DZS a touring vehicle, and hopefully they've achieved that goal. But Rees is concerned with a host of other ideas about the nature of acting and actors as well, and uses DZS to express them with slightly mixed but overall success.

In doing this, DeeZaStar is positioned as an onionised personality, a shop-worn technique here elevated by the decision to avoid the tiresome equation of "inner" with "real".

The text and subtexts bring this off very well, as do the costume and multimedia work. The uncostumed DZS is available to us only through film, for example, a deft touch that very neatly sets up a number of larger issues. What the play lacks in dramatic tension and resolution is offset by the sense that Rees and Halt have opened a rich vein of interesting lore by this mix of genres, one that compensates amply for formal flaws.

Pre- and post-performance DJ mix efforts are club-worthy, the technicals excellent, and the presence of so many stunning drag performers in hostess roles makes for a delightful interlude. Hint: don't be shy; wear the glove, take a chance, dance.