It had been a long time since I did any performance art…. I was organising my book tour, and had already decided that I wasn’t really a stand up and read aloud kind of author and planned events on beaches and riverbanks, in Irish bars and East London drinking clubs. How could I possibly resist an invitation to enter Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World  at Shakespeare’s Globe????  It wasn’t really part of my book tour, it was more like joining in a wonderful neon tinted carnival. My alias was Miss Surf Mama, I decided to turn myself into one of my paintings – I left a trail of glitter all the way home to Biarritz.Daisy Tallulah was my wave, my surf board was an old wooden ironing board painted with Boticelli Venus.

An epic night was had by all. Some people think of it as ‘drag Miss World’ but as Andrew said in a pre- contest interview, drag is too restrictive a word, meaning man to woman, or woman to man cross dressing. Last Saturday we saw people transform into giant squid, mermaids, beach huts, and dinner tables. What gender these surreal beauty queens were nobody knew nor cared…. Shakespeare would have loved it.

 

photos Shop Curious and Corrine Drewery