A Drag show with a delicious difference

Remember Hannah Aria, founder of performance artists’ collective, Neurodelicious? Since forming what is believed to be England’s first Community Interest Company of its kind, Neurodelicious CIC has won £30k in Arts Council funding and is about to head to Vault Festival in London to perform a drag show

An East Anglian collective of performance artists called Neurodelicious CIC has formed what is believed to be England’s first Community Interest Company dedicated to making shows by neurodivergent performance artists. Soon after forming the not-for-profit company in January, Neurodelicious CIC won £30k in Arts Council funding to enable a tour to Vault Festival in February with a new show called Neurodelicious Does Drag.

Hannah Aria is a multi-disciplinary artist from Ipswich who founded the Neurodelicious collective and co-founded the Community Interest Company. Back in October, Hannah piloted a variety show featuring neurodivergent artists, at Colchester Fringe and then at Cambridge Junction. It was such a popular and critical success that the decision was taken to establish a Community Interest Company that would showcase the talents of all kinds of performance artists with brain differences (aka neurodivergences, with examples being Autism, Asperger’s, OCD, Tourette’s, ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia).

Neurodelicious CIC is a ground-breaking performance movement that celebrates unconventional artists with brain differences and puts on professional shows that are accessible to neurodivergent audiences too. The range of artists varies per tour and the Company currently includes dancers and choreographers, actors, storytellers, writers, poets, filmmakers, spoken word specialists, and Drag artists.

This coming Valentine’s week, six of the East’s neurodivergent Drag artists will perform a new show as part of Vault Festival in London’s Waterloo.

Hannah says: ‘I can’t wait for my own ADHD inspired Drag character, Dee Straction, to emerge at Vault Festival! I first learned about the art of Drag character development and associated performance skills at Suffolk Pride’s Drag Workshop at DanceEast, led by Drag Queen Shar Cooterie (aka Ben Powell). Then I participated in Mercury Theatre Colchester’s Drag Workshops, led by Drag professionals Tracey Paper (aka Dan Deller Thompson) and Sugar Paper (aka Lisa Warnock). It’s been a radically different creative experience that has taken me out of my comfort zone. Consider me the baby Queen, as most of my fellow Drag artists are very well-established artists. We are looking forward to debuting our new show at Vault Festival and welcoming the new-born.’

Artistic Director Johnathan Prestney from Colchester, spoke about being a neurodivergent artist: ‘I’m thrilled to be in a creative process that celebrates neurodiversity. I think it’s really important that we are devising theatre for all kinds of audiences, not just mainstream, and when we get to work in unconventional ways, we all get to really explore the craziness in our minds, and there are creative benefits in that.

‘It’s interesting how many people in the creative industries are neurodivergent. We usually have to find ways to fit in with conventional creative spaces but it’s really good to be able to be ourselves.’

Expect plenty of light heated fun and laugh-out-loud moments in the performance mix at Neurodelicious Does Drag, including lip-synch dance numbers to cheesy bump ‘n’ grind hits, spoken word, an uplifting special guest at the Valentine’s Day show and the birth of a Drag baby!

Neurodelicious Does Drag will play at Vault Festival in London on February 14 and 17, at 6.45pm. Tickets are on sale at VAULT Festival.

Featured images: each artist owns their own photograph. Main image of Hannah Aria