There is an exuberance to American drag sensation Dina Martina’s performance at the Soho Theatre that is out of this world. Like a stratospheric clown in drag, she is a wonderful, larger than life character, a complete assault on the senses.
Her show Creme De La Dregs is kitsch and very camp, she is a performer with a heart of gold, who’s shrewd when it comes to the execution of her craft, knowing what works and what doesn’t. The comedy was there from the very start as she deliberately kept us waiting uttering ‘I am, I am coming’, before bounding on to the stage to a rather sinister rendition of the Diana Ross song I‘m Coming Out. She was then strutting around the stage and going into the audience whilst her line in patter was unbroken. She specialises in self deprecating humour, that is also raucous and gets the rapturous applause almost on command. Martina is also edgy, over the top and topical by pushing boundaries. She is clearly a quick thinker and after her rendition of Whitney’s I Want To Dance With Somebody she continued to have the audience firmly in her grasp. During her monologues she kept repeating the word ‘neat’ and indeed she was. Bravo Dina!
****
Runs to the 17th March, Soho Theatre, box office 020 7478 0100 sohotheatre.com
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