TESTO: A stunning new take on drag makes its London debut at BAC
Prepare to be rocked to your foundations with this stunning new take on drag, all about testosterone.
TESTO, by multifaceted artist Wet Mess, will make its London debut at Battersea Arts Centre in Lavender Hill, Battersea with a short run from February 11, to 22.
Originally presented as part of the Here & Now Showcase at 2024’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, TESTO immerses audiences in an hour-long performative extravaganza.
A head painted in checkered pattern, bald other than two kiss curls, black lipstick with enormous false eyelashes and teeth decorated with what looks like black marker pen, Wet Mess is a sight to behold.
Their one-person show is based on interviews with people who have taken testosterone in the course of their gender transitions.
Combining razor sharp movement with pre-recorded interviews, expect surreal spectacles as Wet Mess pinches at the dull flesh of life to explore the edges of drag, the blurry line between performance and reality, and the magical in the mundane.
Having cut their teeth on the East London drag scene, Wet Mess continues to accumulate a following by pushing boundaries and breaking binaries.
As well as the Edinburgh success in 2024, where TESTO won The Skinny’s Gender Euphoria Award, Wet Mess performed as part of Sound of the Underground at the Royal Court and Galatea by Emma Frankland as part of Brighton Fringe.
In November 2021, they won Not Another Drag Competition, one of the most prestigious drag contests held for seven weeks at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern and since have been booked extensively at queer venues in the UK and internationally.
They’ve choreographed a music video in recent months for Tove Lo and have worked on movement direction for artists such as Will Young, London Grammar and Wolf Alice.
In 2019, Wet Mess produced the dance film Sissy Fatigue funded by Jerwood Arts and screened at Thunderdance, Raindance and London Short Film Festival, winning multiple awards including Best Music Video at the Thunderdance Film Festival, Cannes 2019.
For tickets and more information visit: https://bac.org.uk/whats-on/testo/
Pictured top: Wet Mess performs TESTO (Picture: Lesley Martin)