Performer, playwright, actress, chanteuse and once hailed as an ‘icon in the making’, La JohnJoseph is back with a new show, Practically Royalty, at London Wonderground. This week Jason Reid caught up with La John to find out more…
The last time we spoke was back in 2012 when you were preparing for your autobiographical show A Boy in a Dress. What fabulousness have you been up to since then?
Yes, Boy in a Dress was quite a success. I was performing it all of 2012 and 2013 – over one hundred shows I think. Since then I had my first novel, Everything Must Go, published; I’ve played the lead in a reworking of the Duchess of Malfi, and I’ve also made a film in France and one in Germany, both of which are showing at various international festivals. Oh and Rhyannon Styles roped me into dancing onstage with the Arcade Fire at Earls Court!
You’ve been busy. And you’re still living in Berlin?
Am I living in Berlin? I don’t know. Today, yes, but I’ll be in London for most of the fall
On an artistic and creative level, which city do you prefer?
Well I prefer to make work in Berlin (where there is time and space) and then show it in London (where there is an infrastructure).
I guess you get the best of both worlds that way. So what’s the premise of the new show?
It’s me stepping into the shoes of a right wing socialite and basically spewing bile. It’s the darkest and simultaneously most hilarious thing I’ve ever written. The persona is that of a wealthy woman desperate for attention, probably on the verge of a psychotic breakdown.
Ahhhh and she’s Practically Royalty, hence the name. Would you consider yourself a royalist?
Absolutely not. I’d have Jeremy Corbyn as head of state if I had my way.
YES! Totally. But don’t get me stated on all that. The show actually reflects the political and social state of the country. What do you perceive that to be?
Fucked? That’s the word that comes to mind. The show was born out of a political despair, and the urge to use humour to exorcise that angst, and hopefully through satire, flag up just what a ludicrous situation we are in.
I couldn’t agree more. Where do you sit politically?
I’m an old Labour socialist, I think economically and in terms of social justice, that is the only pragmatic political path.
You must be very interested in the current leadership election. There seems to be a wind of change sweeping through the party.
Yes. But I want to see a united left wing movement which is inclusive and representative of women, people of colour and the LGBTI community. Isolationist politics are ruining the left.
“The show was born out of a political despair, and the urge to use humour to exorcise that angst”
I think I would be wholly unsuited to actually restructuring the country. Past notions of greatness were all so inherently racist, I don’t want to revisit that. I want to see the UK taking more responsibility for refugees, committing to a liveable wage and rent controls, and removing itself from the arms trade.
Finally, for those who have never seen you perform, how would you describe your style?
Somewhere between Hyacinth Bucket and Justin Vivian Bond, a well coiffed snarl concealing an arsenal of catastrophically offensive bon mots.
