The Two Indie Boys from Reading are a comedy duo with experience in burlesque, clowning and drag. After their great success at Man UP! drag king competition final at Clapham Grand, the duo will be performing their new show “DYKE Systems Ltd”, at Shoreditch Town Hall’s Summer in The Ditch on 20 July.
The duo tell QX more about themselves and their new show, DYKE Systems Ltd
“We have known each other for years, brought together in the classic L-Word Chart way through many mutual links, and have always found each other stupidly funny. A little over a year ago we wanted to put this to the test by stepping outside both our comfort zones and entering Europe’s biggest drag king competition, Man Up as then “Two Indie Boys from Reading”. Incredibly, we reached the final of the competition, and placed third, which inspired us to keep working and developing acts as a duo.
“It can feel hard to practise creativity when you’re in your thirties, you work full time not in the arts and you lose confidence in where you fit in. This competition gave us an opportunity to get some of that confidence back and build an amazing community with other drag artists.
Influences
“We really enjoy similar influences like clowning, satire, theatre, 90s & 00s references, and, of course, queerness being a huge driver in the work we wanted to produce, so we started thinking about what other themes we could explore and what characters or ideas might come from that.
“Our different practices combined has allowed us to develop and learn from each other. Holly Wilson-Guy brings over ten years of experience in theatre making and acting, while Kheski Kobler has spent the past decade as a cabaret performer. We have both brought our different practices to the rehearsal room and have landed in a place where we want to push our cabaret performances into longer form shows.
A love of cult camp films
“Both of us love cult camp films, and we are heavily inspired by the work of John Waters and films like But I’m a Cheerleader and Drop Dead Gorgeous, so much so that we wanted to place our characters within these worlds. We played with the idea of two women in business who have a ‘lucrative business opportunity’ that no one seems to understand, but they keep trying to sell sell sell at all costs. A world that feels reminiscent of an era where pyramid schemes & capitalism were king and where queerness seemed repressed, emphasis on “seemed”!
Dykes System LTD is born
“After falling into these characters and seeing how easy it was to feel like they fit with us and how they worked alongside our queerness, the idea of our new show, “Dykes System LTD”, was born!
“We started the process by exploring who the characters Sally & Susan were and who they are in that world. One having a liquid diet and a salsa dancing husband and the other being a carabiner wearing leader of her hiking group! Once we had an idea on who they were we started to build the world. Using improvisation to build on their relationship and backstory and writing ideas, lines and notes down that came from that into a workable script.
A brilliant director
“In previous work we have always just worked the two of us but we felt for this we really wanted to have some dramaturgical support to help us unpick the story we are trying to tell and how we might do that.
“We brought Lucy K Allan into the process, who is a brilliant director, and came in to help shape the piece into something substantial.
“Working dramaturgically with Lucy helped us to ask questions on what story we were trying to tell and how that fits within Sally and Susans world as well as how the audience receives it. It helped us step out of the realm of a cabaret show into an exciting cross over of genres. We really liked the idea of trying to combine a more theatrical approach with a cabaret by inviting guests to come and join us in the world where a story is unfolding.
We are hugely influenced and excited by the “lesbian renaissance” in London
Two Indie Boys from Reading
“Also, we are hugely influenced and excited by the “lesbian renaissance” in London and wanted to see a show that reflected who we are as individuals whilst also being fantastical and a little stupid which inspired us to create the show. So, we made sure there are lots of references for the community in there as well as being a piece that anyone can come and enjoy and take something away from.
“We really are looking forward to showcasing this work for a second time as part of Shoreditch Town Halls’ Summer in The Ditch Programme which is on the 20th July.
“Come on down and find out whether you, too, could be a dynamic, young, knowledgeable entrepreneur!”
“DYKE Systems LTDTM!” is at Summer in The Ditch on 20 July at Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT, United Kingdom.
