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# REVIEW: My Son’s a Queer (but what can you do?)
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/review-my-sons-a-queer-but-what-can-you-do/
- Published: 2023-02-20T12:05:30.000Z
- Updated: 2023-02-20T10:56:38.000Z
- Description: Brian Butler delves into the world of wool wigs, yellow frocks and Maleficent
- Author: Brian Butler
- Tags: Arts, Reviews, Theatre, Ambassadors Theatre, atg, Rob Madge

What do you do if you’ve moved on from self-made Disney parades in the living room of your childhood at Christmas and been a hugely successful child star in the West End?

You write a show about it, and luckily you have all the home movies of your Queer beginnings. That’s just what **Rob Madge** has done – first at the Turbine Theatre, then Edinburgh and the West End. Now the non-binary performer is back with a vengeance with My Son’s a Queer (but what can you do?)

And the answer to their own question is: laugh, cry, be shocked, be joyful and laugh some more. At the compact Ambassadors Theatre, the audience on my night was mostly Queer and loving it. And what’s not to love?

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/robmadge-600.jpg)

In this over-the-top Victorian gem of a building, we find Rob in grey vest and shorts, lounging in a plush armchair, with a huge projection screen behind them and camp footlights in front of them.

Through joyous family videos, featuring their parents and grandparents, we chart Rob’s theatrical roots. They sing: “ the stage is set for a show from me… anything is possible if you just believe”. And so we’re off on a roller coaster ride, where they explain the 7 steps to successfully mounting your own Disney parade.

They include: assemble your cast – well that’s largely Rob, with a lot of means-well help from their father on the videos. With a twinkle in their eyes, a knowing look or three and a wry but enchanting smile, Rob delivers a treatise on theatre-making, from finding the right costume- and they have many – using your imagination- and they have plenty of that – to finding your Muse: in this case a boy crush at stage school.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/1600x1200_600.jpg)

But this show, deftly directed by **Luke Sheppard**, with songs and lyrics by **Pippa Cleary**, is not just a comic romp through the joys of Queerness. There’s bullying, there’s intolerance, there’s hurtful remarks from teachers, and there’s a puzzlement about why we should only have binary choices in our lives – as Rob sings – “why two- why just pink and blue?”

In its short span of 70 minutes, we cover a lot of ground- and Rob’s sincerity, acid wit and humanity shine through. A glorious celebration of all things Queer – and hooray for that.

The show runs until 1 April – [**more information at atgtickets.com**](https://www.theambassadorstheatre.co.uk/shows/my-sons-a-queer-but-what-can-you-do?ref=scenemag.co.uk)

Footnote: a major renovation of the 110-year-old theatre has allowed the installation of a lift from foyer to back stalls level, plus a fully accessible washroom – what a rarity in the West End – and well done ATG for doing it.