Birds of Paradise Theatre Company

Scotland's touring theatre company promoting disabled artists and supporting the arts sector

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A drag queen with long blonde hair wearing a white dress holds the face of another actor.

Productions â–º  

Blanche & Butch

A night of outrageous unPCness, high quality campness and deeply touching stories of three men who span the generations

A dazzling new production inspired by Noel Greig’s 2006 play. Blanche & Butch tells the witty and poignant story of the lives, loves and losses of the three disabled men who used to be the sensational Heelz on Wheels. There’s not much sensation now…

Starring Robert Gale, Garry Robson and Kinny Gardner with live music performed by Amelia Cavallo. Directed and designed by Kenny Miller with original songs from Akintayo Akinbode.

“The sheer quality of Softley Gale’s writing allows us to see clearly past the wheels and through to the talent of the actors onstage”
Glasgow Theatre Blog

It was the best idea they’d ever had – three disabled drag queens – called ‘Heelz n Wheelz’ – it was sensational! But when the sparkles fade and tensions rise, a new way forward is needed. Join our stars backstage as they now tour the first ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’ to star an ‘actually disabled’ Blanche. It’s seen better days and so have they. What can possibly go wrong as they pull back the curtain on their lives, loves and loses?

ProgrammeDownload
TOUR PACKDownload

Written by Robert Softley Gale

Presented by Birds of Paradise and Tron Theatre

People watch a man talking on stage with his arms in the air
Blog 14 Oct 2017

Intergenerational Cabaret

Six participants (4 older, 2 younger) worked with one Project Lead / development artist, Philippa Clark

The Team

Robert Softley Gale – Blanche
Garry Robson – Butch
Kinny Gardner – Bette
Amelia Cavallo – Keys
Amy Cheskin – BSL Interpreter
Cara Ballingall – Wendy
Mairi Taylor – Producer
Michelle Rolfe – Assistant Producer
Robert Softley Gale – Writer & Lyricist
Kenny Miller – Director & Designer
Amelia Cavallo – Musical Director
Philip Osment – Dramaturgy
Grant Anderson – Lighting Designer
Amy Cheskin – BSL Interpretation

Access

BSL Interpreter Amy Cheskin was fully integrated within the production and captioning played on a screen within the set.

Description during the show was delivered to headsets via one of the onstage characters, Wendy.  Audiences using audio description were invited Stage Manager Wendy for the backstage gossip and her take on Blanche, Butch and Bette as the relationships of these three men are tested.  Audiences wishing to experience Wendy’s pre-show blether were invited to come to the theatre early to catch up on all the background while settled in their seat.

Captioning was provided on a tv screen hung centrally within the set. The text was designed to look like a script.

Tour

Thurs 14th – Sat 16th Sept 2017 @ 7.45pm
Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Tues 19th Sept 2017 @ 7.30pm
Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock
Sat 23rd Sept 2017 @ 7.30pm
Macrobert, Stirling
Wed 27th Sept 2017 @ 7.30pm
The Byre, St Andrews
Thurs 28th Sept 2017 @ 7.30pm
Woodend Barn, Banchory
Mon 2nd Oct 2017 @ 7.30pm
Eden Court, Inverness
Wed 4th Oct 2017 @ 7.30pm
Dundee Rep Theatre, Dundee
Thurs 5th Oct 2017 @ 7.00pm
Platform, Glasgow
Sat 7th Oct 2017 @ 7.30pm
Eastwood Park Theatre, Giffnock
Tues 10th Oct 2017 @ 8.00pm
The Gaiety, Ayr
Wed 11th Oct 2017 @ 7.30pm
CatStrand, Castle Douglas
Fri 13th & Sat 14th Oct 2017 @ 7.30pm
Summerhall, Edinburgh

Reviews

“Performed with a fabulously brazen swagger that dares to make the (usually) unspeakable into shockingly funny entertainment that ambushes your heart as well.”
The Herald
“Birds of Paradise aren’t trying to shock you for no reason. They’re challenging political correctness and audience ideas. And they do it so well.”
Broadway World
“Blanche and Butch is a twisted mix of camp, drama, comedy and music that is both glamorous and sharp.”
The Wee Review
“The sheer quality of Softley Gale’s writing allows us to see clearly past the wheels and through to the talent of the actors onstage”
Glasgow Theatre Blog

Photos & Videos

A drag queen with long blonde hair wearing a white dress holds the face of another actor.
A shirtless man with a painted face wearing nipple tassles and a hat sits at the front of the stage and scowls. He is white and sat in a wheelchair .There are two more actors in drag makeup placed behind him..
An actor in drag makeup sits at a dressing room mirror. He is white, bald and appears to be in his 30s. He is shirtless and has two silver tassels covering his nipples. The mirror has various photographs stuck around it.
An old drag queen with long blonde curly hair hair wearing a white dress does the makeup of another actor that is sat down in front of him. This actor is white with a brown buzzcut.
An actor in drag makeup stares at himself in a mirror. He is white and appears to be in his 40s. He has short white hair.
A middle aged actor in drag makeup sat at a dressing room mirror stares at himself in a small handheld mirror. On the dressing room table in front of him, there is a framed photograph, various makeup products and a blonde curly wig on a stand.
Two middle aged white actors in drag makeup. One is standing over the other. The one standing appears to be shirtless and has short white hair. The one sat is wearing a long sleeved black top and has a sequined black hair band around his bald head.
One drag queen helps another get into a black dress. Both are white and middle aged. The actor putting on the dress is sat in a wheelchair, he is wearing a black headband and black gloves. The queen assiting appears to only be wearing spanx but he is largely obscured by the other actor.
The stage is lit with a dark blue wash. One actor holds a disco ball over another actor's head, obscuring his own face by doing so. The other actor is sat in a wheelchair. He is wearing white leggings, heavy drag makeup, no shirt and a white tie.
One man in drag helps another get out of a black robe. The one helping is standing, he is white, middle aged and has short white hair. He appears to only be wearing spanx. The other actor is sat in a wheelchair. He is wearing white leggings and is shirtless with silver tassles on his nipples.
A close up of a man in drag makeup. He is sat in a wheelchair in front of a big dressing room mirror and appears to be talking. He appears to be white and in his mid 30s. He is wearing white leggings, black ballet shoes, silver nipple tassels and a black robe.
A collection of 3 white drag queens in various stages of dress stand around in a dressing room chatting. We see a woman signing amongst them. She has red hair and is wearing a shirt with the Birds of Paradise logo.
A drag queen sits at her dressing table in a purple robe holding a black fan. Another drag queen in a black robe is sat behind her.
A man sits holding a mirror while putting on drag makeup. He appears to be middle aged and white. He has very short white hair.

Production Story

Intergenerational Cabaret

As part of the 2017 Blanche & Butch tour, we held an Intergenrational Cabaret on Saturday 14th October at Summerhall.  BOP, in partnership with Luminate and LGBT Age, presented an outrageous, accessible inter-generational cabaret featuring a cast of artists and performers who took part in a cabaret development project. It was compered by Kinny Gardner and even included performances from the Blanche & Butch cast! This event had BSL interpretation, live text and audio description. Find out more here.

Evaluation

Below is evaluation of Blanche & Butch from development to touring.  Evaluation looks at the original aims, outputs and learning from the activity and draws from surveys, group conversations and 1:1 feedback. This is an opportunity for the company to reflect on how it can improve on and learn from its work.

Blanche & Butch Evaluation Report External FINALDownload
Poster for Blanche & Butch. Depicts a red velvet glove coming in from the left hand border, between the thumb and forefinger the gloved hand is holding a rat by the tail which dangles down the left hand border of the poster. The bottom of the poster shows a dark pool of water in which a red high heel and wheelchair are both half submerged. In the top half of the poster are the words "Blanche & Butch" in the style of the Hollywood sign, on the side of a mountain, with two spotlights picking out the words in their beams. The whole poster is bordered with light bulbs, like a dressing room mirror, though some of the bulbs have blown leaving gaps in the border.