Producer Brendan Ludlow takes us on a journey to trace the first steps of acclaimed drag and cabaret show MESSY FRIENDS, coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from August 14 to 25.

I have always found it very interesting when you get a room full of queer people together to share their individual journeys. I love the fact that we have a shared collective experience, but also that each person’s story is unique and specific to them – which is what makes them perfect in their own skin. This has been a particularly noticeable experience for me as the queer community has changed over the years. 

I am the oldest member on the MESSY FRIENDS team this year, and also their producer. I have seen the entire queer culture progressively develop since and through the 80’s, to where it is now. Through the Australian and Asia Pacific LGBTQ+ community, I have watched all of our cast grow up and become the people you see on stage, and I have watched as each of their individual skills and talents were honed and harnessed by putting on shows, learning creative choreography, creating outrageously creative costumes that bewilder and amazes the audiences in front of them. 

This has occurred over a period of 10 years, plus when I first witnessed my first cast member and realised they had a talent that needed to be released for the world to see. The experience of watching my friends become their true selves has been so exciting, and I hope our audiences find it equally inspiring.

I first saw our Creative Director Ginava perform in Booraloo, Perth, Western Australia, and I was mesmerized by a style of performing in drag that I had not seen before. Their talent is in spoken word lip sync, choreography and costume creation and construction. Ginava has worked with many greats in the industry, such as James St. James, Methyl Ethyl, Boy George, Alan Cumming, and Peaches. The way that they can take an idea and turn it into a costume and a performance number, and then even further, into a whole show, is something that I can only admire. 

Ginava reaches far and wide into their personal experiences, sometimes rehashing personal and graphic tragedies and trauma. But the way that they can turn their experiences and grief into performance, and knowing that it hopefully will – and, in fact, does – assist others on their queer journey, makes me feel exceptionally proud of this team. 

Talking to people post-show and hearing that they have been immediately able to make connections with the characters and stories in the show is very humbling. However, even more so is hearing from people who saw the show many months or even a year ago, when they come back having had a chance to fully dissect the show and think about it on a deeper level.

Something that has been said on a number of occasions by repeat audience members is that additional viewings also bring new perspectives on the show. We often hear that the first time they see it, certain parts stand out, and then, after reflection, when they see it again, they are able to find new and thought-provoking elements they had never noticed before.

It always gets me going – and I quite often share a tear with an audience member. One time I remember distinctly was when a mother had come to the show with their child, and they both spoke so candidly and thanked us for providing this visibility and allowing this family to come together and share their queer story. 

Each cast member in the show, including myself, has had a different version of growing up – in different circumstances, with different situations and at different times. For me, my biggest hurdle was being queer and an educator in Western Australia. When I first graduated from university to become a teacher, it was not safe to be a gay male and a primary school teacher, and so I had to hide that part of myself.

That has trauma attached just on its own, let alone all of the other things that all of us had to go through being queer in Australia. Yet we all have very similar ideals and really come together as a big queer family while we are on the road. And that is what enables us to share on the stage and screen and overall make a show that we hope anyone can enjoy.

Even just looking at the time we have been in Edinburgh and in the lead-up to this year’s Fringe season, we have taken some of our new experiences and are already making new material for upcoming additions to the show. Not to give too much away, but there are going to be a few new acts and some new questions for the next version of the show, which are in the works!

It’s so interesting to me how different people’s perceptions of the same thing, situation, or occurrence can be so different. And those different perspectives then blend together, brilliantly making their way to the stage. 

We, as a collective, are so proud of what we get to do and present on stage. We believe that the journey the audience goes on starts when they first hear about us, not when the curtain goes up. ALSO, guess what, now you’ve heard about us in this article – you’re on that journey too! And, once a Messy Friend always a Messy Friend!