SHOCKER!! Swedish Man Plays Diana in New Show Mocking The Royals
Diana The Untold and Untrue Story Hilariously Picks Apart the Royal Family
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Linus Karp is a very funny man. He is also very clever with a hyper clear creative vision and determination to present that vision on stage. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago on Zoom in a short break from his current national tour with his company Awkward Productions of Diana, The Untold and Untrue Story before watching the show at the Lighthouse,Poole.
Linus told me about how he had come to the story of Diana through wanting to create a piece for his partner’s mother which had its premiere around a family table.
Check out the interview here: CHAT WITH LINUS KARP
But although #untrueDiana may sound like the product of domestic familial bliss it is actually very biting, immensely clever and hilariously funny. In this version although Diana speaks to us from heaven she may not actually have died. In fact we, the audience, have the chance to participate in preventing her death as well as witnessing her birth.
Linus gives us Diana through her many iconic looks, images and fashion statements. We have young Diana being literally born on the stage, her introduction to future husband Prince Charles - played by a cardboard cut out - and a monster puppet Camilla referred to as Cam - Cam. Diana goes to the pub with Cam - Cam: “Two G&Ts and a keg of Stella for Cam-Cam”
Linus is supported throughout by partner Joseph who shows mad puppet skills, voiceovers, and audience co-ordination as well as co-writing the show.
Diana’s progression from ingenue to global icon is predicted early on when she agrees to marry Charles and promises to become a "gay icon and supporter of Queer rights and clear the world of landmines” And it is this affectionate ribbing of the Diana legend that keeps the show on track and allows Linus to relentlessly take the piss out of the rest of the Royals.
It would be wrong to suggest that this show is just a campy bit of drag fun trading on the back of a beloved icon. It is all of that but also a very cleverly engineered piece of theatre with a tight structure, perfect rhythm and some of the funniest ideas I have seen in a long time.
Awkward Productions tour the UK relentlessly and have built up a strong following from Aberdeen to Penzance and the question now is what next. Linus still has a desire to take his shows back to his native Sweden but the big goal is to take Diana to New York. I hope it happens and I hope the Big Apple is ready for this massive talent.
Check out my interview with Linus Karp on The Confidently Creative Podcast here:
Find out more about Awkward Productions here:
Awkward Productions News and Shows
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