QX caught up with Carrot and Reece Connolly, the creative minds behind the cult hits Gallifrey Cabaret, Life Finds A Slay, SUCKER 4 U, and other queer, geeky endeavours. They present a terrifying, titillating, and truly cursed new vision that combines drag, comedy, and plenty of ectoplasm in their new show, The Rogering, running at The Pleasance Theatre on the 28th and 29th October 2026. We talk about drag, performing and The Rogering.

What are your earliest recollections of performing, especially in drag?

We’ve both always been performers in some way, shape, or form. We’ve both worked across a lot of different types of theatre and art forms, and you organically land on what works for you and excites you.

We both studied on the same course at uni (which is where we met), which was very performance art-focused; that was really useful for exploring the extremities of what a lot of live performance can be, for example, and then you sort of work out where you sit on that spectrum, and what sort of art you want to make. For both of us, we’ve always been entertainers – the audience is so key to what we do. Carrot’s been a working drag artist for 8 years now, touring across the country; Reece has a background in playwrighting and stand-up. When we pool all those skills and experiences, it makes for a really rich and fun foundation to create performances from.

How well does “queer geeky chaos” describe your work?

Very accurately, we’d say! It’s a style we’ve honed over several years working in cabaret, especially with producing our big parody drag shows like ‘The Gallifrey Cabaret’ (inspired by all things Doctor Who) and ‘Life Finds a Slay’ (Jurassic Park). The goal is high-energy, outrageous, unapologetically ridiculous entertainment with heart, soul (in this case, a lot of them), and spunk. These are the genres we adore and are totally obsessed with, so we’re perfectly positioned to send them up. In fact, we’ve become something of professionals at it.

Tell us about your new show, The Rogering.

The show takes the form of a lecture from renowned husband-and-wife paranormal investigating team Elaine and Ned Burrows, as they look back at their life’s work, unpacking some of their most notorious and chilling cases, live for your titillation. But little do they expect: something even darker and more dangerous lurks in the shadows… and tonight may just be the night it chooses to strike! *insert crash of lightning and scary organ here*

Paying homage to the iconic ‘Conjuring’ films – as well as a (g)host of other horror classics – it’s a laugh-out-loud, scream-even-louder, edge-of-your-seat ride into the unknown.

How do you hope the audience will respond?

We always aim – in everything we do – to surprise people, as well as giving them a great night out at the theatre. We make the sort of shows we want to see, and would feel excited and entertained and inspired by watching. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the properties we’re parodying or not, we want you to leave feeling shaken and stirred in the best possible way. Maybe even questioning what you thought you knew…

What other projects are in the pipeline?

Our Doctor Who-themed drag and cabaret show ‘The Gallifrey Cabaret’ is keeping us busy till the end of the year. We’re throwing a big Halloween bash at the gorgeous Clapham Grand on Oct 22nd (just before ‘The Rogering’ the following week because who needs sleep??) and then an adult panto 9 – 19th Dec at Pleasance once again. In lieu of an official Doctor Who Christmas special this year, it’ll help to keep your sonic stocking stuffed!

The Rogering is on 28 & 29 October 2026, Pleasance Theatre, 5 Carpenters Mews, North Road N7 9EF, United Kingdom.

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/events