If Disney films have taught us anything, it’s that dreams can come true, and writer and performer Rob Madge is living proof that this concept isn’t confined to the movies. Their show My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?) is back in the West End for a second time, having already wowed audiences at the Garrick, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and at the Turbine Theatre.
But the Battersea theatre isn’t technically where this show began, it’s not even on social media, where Madge amassed a legion of fans over lockdown. No, My Son’s a Queer began life in the front room of an ordinary Coventry home over a decade ago.
Before camera phones, the precocious young Madge insisted that their homegrown productions were captured on VHS. This was a Disney parade, with productions of The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins and Beauty & The Beast staged behind a sofa and throw instead of a proscenium arch and curtain.
Madge’s family were drafted in to help, mainly Dad who multi-rolled like a pro with both on and off-stage roles. The scratchy VHS tapes are the basis of My Son’s a Queer, taking us back to the time when Madge realised he wanted to play Belle instead of the Beast, or Ariel over Eric.
These video clips provide the most laughs, though Madge’s quick witted quips and theatrical inside jokes also spawn rapturous laughter. But it’s reflective too, Madge examines the role their family played in their upbringing and, if anything, the show is a touching thank you letter to them.
While the show touches on the difficulties of growing up Queer, it more often celebrates it. Madge laments that he’s written a whole show to say something his Dad said in a single Tweet; essentially a parent’s job is to make their child happy. The Madge family did more; grandparents building toy theatres and knitting woollen wigs show, that this was a household built on love.
Ryan Dawson Laight’s set recreates that living room where it all began, but with some added theatrical touches, and like any good Disney movie there are songs too, courtesy of Pippa Cleary. The songs cover the basics of musical theatre, with some up-tempo numbers and a couple of ballads, all serving the particular purpose of the moment.
Madge is comfortable up on that stage, unsurprising when we’ve seen the videos of them in training, but they also have a warmness about them that is incredibly endearing, it’s impossible not to look at the child on screen and feel proud for the adult they have become.
Directed by Luke Sheppard, it’s surprising just how affecting and universal this rough around the edges, coming of age story, actually is. In creating My Son’s a Queer, Rob Madge has also created a manual for parenting, one that focuses on love and acceptance above all else.
My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?) is a uniquely joyous musical that invites you to be part of a very special family, one that allows you to look back to your own childhood and to rekindle your own dreams. It might even encourage you to wish upon a star – but remember, the star of this show is without a doubt, Rob Madge.
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