User:Viola-Ness/Sandbox/Guys in Disguise

Guys in Disguise is an award-winning independent queer theatre company based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1987 by Darrin Hagen and Kevin Hendricks when they took their first show Delusions of Grandeur, to the Edmonton Fringe. Best known for comedic and drag based shows and has been credited for "exposing the voices of the drag and queer community to a wider audience."

Guys in Disguise production include many premieres, many of them Hagen collaborations with such playwrights as Chris Craddock, Trevor Schmidt, Dana Andersen.

Guys in Disguise has been collaborating with Workshop West Theatre since 1991 to produce the Loud & Queer Cabaret, the first and largest queer performance festival in western Canada. This annual event serves as a platform to nurture emerging writers. Following a three-year break, the Cabaret made a comeback in November 2014 under the name "Let Me Be Perfectly Queer!" It featured a lineup of 25 performances over two nights, which included the premiere of a new film by  Brad Fraser.

Additionally, "Guys in Disguise" has gained recognition for their captivating drag comedies, touring extensively throughout North America.

In 1996 their play The Edmonton Queen: The Final Voyage won the Sterling Award for Outstanding New Fringe Work and was published as book form by Brindle & Glass Publishing. The Edmonton Queen details Edmonton’s underground drag scene in the 1980s.


 * Gateway Review https://archive.org/details/GAT_1997111301/1997111301/page/n7

Mermaid tail

 * The mermaid tail first appeared in the 1987 Fringe parade and remains an public symbol of the 80s Drag scene in Edmonton. In 2021 was featured in the Mitchell Art Gallery exhibition "Dress & Escapism: Performance of Identity through Drag and Burlesque Costume". Plans to donate their costumes to the Edmonton City Archives

Awards
received 7 Sterling awards for his work in the Edmonton theatre scene, and 30 nominations

Category:LGBT theatre in Canada, Category:Culture_of_Edmonton, Category:Theatre_companies_in_Alberta, Category:Canada theatre stubs, Category:LGBT theatre companies
 * Categories to add when it's published**