In this award-winning multimedia extravaganza,

the audience is immersed in a mashup of a musical, a drag show, and an anime cartoon. Two actors tell the story of Princess Edward and her beloved Abel in their quest to surmount depression and shame in a dystopian fantasy world. Princess Edward’s battle with her inner demons is made literal in this fable in which a strange and soothing beast kidnaps her lover Abel and holds him in a disconnected trance. Will “Princess” give in to the beast and spiral downward into shame and self loathing or will she rise to the challenge of radical self love to save her beloved? The 70-minute show is played in front of a five-meter wide scrim and is entirely lip synched. The show features wonderful drag costumes, pop performances, choreography, monster battles and live bass guitar looping. The projected video backdrop contains colourful, almost psychedelic worlds and a few hilarious side characters. It’s as campy as it is impressive. Built-in to the show is a segment to host a local dj during preshow and a local drag performer as part of the play. This gives a unique performance opportunity to a hometown drag performer who can choose a song to perform, and it brings the local drag community into the experience directly.

After debuting with Theatre Outre in Lethbridge Alberta in 2016, the show has played from coast to coast in Canada including at Buddies in Bad Times in Toronto, the rEvolver Festival in Vancouver, OUTstages in Victoria, with Theatre New Brunswick at Fredericton Pride, and Fringe Hit at the Halifax Fringe Festival. The script has been published in Canadian Theatre Review, and in 2021 The Princess Show was awarded as a finalist for the Nova Scotia Masterworks Prize, the most prestigious arts award in the province.

"It's humbling and amazing to me that this little show that Richie Wilcox, Deonie Hudson and myself created with our friends in 2016 has been received so well that it's made it's way to numerous different cities and festivals. While it is a fun and campy show, it's actually deeply personal for me, written at a time when I was finally taking on and working through long standing chronic depression. Maybe people resonate with the show because for many of us, what self love looks and feels like can be elusive and difficult, or maybe people just like seeing folks in drag going on a strange and fantastical adventure. Turns out the two are closely related for me. I hope this puts a smile on your face and lights up your heart a little."

Aaron Collier

“the weirdest show I have ever seen” – Jo Ledingham, Vancouver
“dizzy fun” – David C. Jones, Vancouver
“mesmerizing” – The Coast, Halifax
“Powerhouse performance” – LocalExpress, Halifax

Creative Team

Aaron Collier / co-creator, writer, composer, performer, sound & projection designer
Richie Wilcox / co-creator + performer
Deonie Hudson / co-creator, claymation artist, costume designer
Jay Whitehead / video performer
John DeStigter / video performer + graphic design
David Gabert / english narrator
Minori Inoue / japanese narrator + translator
Matt Miller / illustrator
Michael Charles McNeil / videographer
Andy Davies / sign language consultant
Wes Babcock / videographer + production assistant