Glamrou: Drag Mother | Soho Theatre

Glamrou: Drag Mother is a solo show by British-Iraqi Drag Queen Glamrou, featuring the ultimate showdown between themselves and their mother, as the latter came to terms with the former’s queerness identity. With heaps of creative liberty as a self-proclaimed “pathological liar”, the show takes on a rather wild rollercoaster as Glamrou recounts several standout moments from their childhood. Despite exaggerating these events with exuberant amounts of dramatic flair, Glamrou ultimately creates a wholesome tribute to motherhood. 

Glamrou's effortless charm immediately entices the audience from the moment they walk on stage. With the audience already rooting for them, Glamrou rightfully steps into the spotlight and begins by singing Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, with adapted lyrics, to loud cheers and applause. Joined by his two person band, Porscha and Mer Sounds, Glamrou squeezes in a fair few songs throughout the piece, ranging from classic pop hits to musical theatre references, to their own original songs. These songs are always well timed, helping segue from a hilarious conversational moment, to another. 

Glamrou's humour is dark, often dropping Islamophobic jokes, playful threats of terrorism, digs at the patriarchal society standards that still exist in Iraq, and sexist comments that leave the audience in stunned silence. Although clearly rooted in comedy, audiences do find themselves nervously tittering, almost afraid to fully enjoy the material and the confidence with which Glamrou speaks it. The material is borderline offensive, a fact that Glamrou delights in, further testing their boundaries by often referring to the audience as "guilty white liberals" or "you white people".

These jokes, whilst dicey at times, are all meant in good faith, and stem from Glamrou's own real upbringing. Many of these incidents are so insensitively offending, that humour becomes the best coping mechanism. Incidents include bring cast as a "terrorist's son" in Steven Spielberg's 2005 movie "Munich", or having their GCSE art teacher insist their final project be about the 9/11 Terrorist attack and many more. 

Glamrou nearly navigates the path away from pity by calling themselves out on the extent of their miserable childhood, by introducing "Glamrou's Mother". Clarifying that Glamrou had been raised in London's South Kensington, and had attended Cambridge University, the jokes feel sharper as the audience are called out for their naivety. Glamrou's mother (portrayed by Glamrou with a slightly different body language) is presented as an iconic diva who constantly "slays bitch". Her fiesty nature, and rather extreme measures to simple inconveniences are endlessly entertaining from an audience perspective.

Between Glamrou's charm, the quick fire clashes between themself and their mum, and the overarching theme of acceptance and love, the show makes for a fun evening out that will leave you laughing. 

★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review