Camp as Christmas is everything you want this Christmas and then some. Both festive and lovingly anti-Christmas, it will have all the best and funny bits of the season but will also be strange, surreal and of the moment. We cannot wait to share what we’ve made with you!
We are Thick & Tight, an avant-garde dance theatre company based here in the UK. I’m Daniel Hay-Gordon, one half of the outfit and El Perry is the other half – the Batman to my Robin, the Joan to my Bette, the cup to my saucer. People ask us why we are called Thick & Tight – let’s just say it began as a dirty joke, and it has stuck with us ever since.
We began making short works in gay bars and queer spaces over 10 years ago, in venues like the Royal Vauxhall Tavern and for nights like Duckie. We found our unique style straight away, which was to portray famous or infamous people and put them into unlikely pairings, i.e. Madonna and Sigmund Freud, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana or Elaine Paige and John Cage. While we were cutting our teeth as choreographers, we were lucky to have parallel careers as dancers working with amazing people here and abroad. Highlights included El playing Margaret Thatcher in a dance show about the miners’ strike by Gary Clarke, and I danced in a two-hander play with the great Fiona Shaw which travelled the world.
About a decade ago we both decided to focus our careers mainly on developing our work within Thick & Tight and feel very lucky to have had some wonderful opportunities along the way. Our work derives from the communities we care about and work with regularly; mainly queer and learning-disabled people, and people who experience intersecting marginalisation. We love to make entertaining, outrageous and funny work but also care deeply about making it accessible and socially transformative. Our work has been presented at prestigious venues like Barbican, Royal Opera House, Sadler’s Wells and Southbank, and we’ve worked with companies like the Balletboyz and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
In many ways, Camp as Christmas feels like we are returning to our gay bar roots, creating a show full of show-stopper numbers, wigs, laughs and surprises. We believe that even if you haven’t enjoyed dance before or are a novice, you’ll get into this. There will be some classical camp drag numbers from the likes of Judy Garland (performed by me to ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’) and Liza Minnelli (performed by El to a ridiculous number nobody has ever heard of). There will be Melania Trump and her body double. A turkey that’s too camp to cook. You get some Christmas baddies like the Three Unwise Men (Nigel Farage and a couple of his cronies) and the pig in a blanket himself, Trump. There will be many more characters stuffed in the stocking too – you won’t know what’s hit ya!
We will also be joined by two exceptionally talented performers. Firstly, Harry Alexander, who is a star dancer of the Michael Clark Company and both a winner and nominee for Best Dancer in the UK several times. He was born to dance and wear a gold catsuit. Secondly, the incredible Annie Edwards, who has danced with Candoco and many other artists and companies. She is a true gem in our industry, and you will not be able to handle how good her Santa number is! It’s truly worth coming to the show just for that.
If you are looking for something that is full of Christmas treats and laughs but totally off the wall, punk and political, you know where to find us: Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre from 10th December – 3rd January.
Thick & Tight: Camp as Christmas runs from 10 Dec 2026 to 3 Jan 2027 at Southbank Centre (Purcell Room), Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX, United Kingdom.
Tickets from £26
BSL Performance 15 December 7.45pm, pre-show access session date TBC. Post-show Q&A with Thick & Tight 16 December.
Age guidance 15+, running time 1 hour.
