Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – Review – Sheffield Lyceum Theatre
By Clare Jenkins, June 2026
Snap! Crackle! Pop! Priscilla, Queen of the Desert explodes onto the Lyceum stage like a series of firecrackers, frightening the horses and propelling the audience to their feet at the end, clapping, dancing, swaying and singing along to Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’.
They’ve just experienced two-and-a-half hours of high-octane campery, adrenaline-fuelled singing and pulse-pounding dancing, including the odd Alpine-high kick and injury-defying splits. While undeniably fabulous, all this heart-stopping energy, under Ian Talbot’s direction, does relegate the more tender aspects of the storyline to a lower league, often sprinkled with saccharine. So any emotional development is sacrificed on the altar of hyper. Getting a bit too complex? Let’s throw in another song.
As anyone who’s seen the iconic, ground-breaking 1990s film will know, Priscilla follows a trio of Sydney-based drag artists – the ageing transgender Bernadette (Fascinating Aida’s Adele Anderson), the bisexual Tick/Mitzi (Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton) and flamboyant gay Adam/Felicia (Nick Hayes, a powerfully charismatic stage presence) – as they drive their clapped-out bus (the Priscilla of the title) across the Australian Outback. They’re heading for Alice Springs at the request of Tick’s estranged wife, so that he can meet his young son again and perform at her casino at the same time.
On the way, passing through mining townships and across desert, their mutual friendship deepens as they encounter homophobic attitudes and abuse (this was the era of AIDS) after performing in hoedowns and bars in full tinsel-and-glitz gear.
“Riotous”
The disco vibe is set from the start as a massive glitter-ball dominates the stage and a string of 80s and 90s hits (‘Say a Little Prayer’, ‘It’s Raining Men’, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, ‘Hot Stuff’ – very Full Monty,) are belted out, ear-shatteringly, across the auditorium. The curtain rises on a rowdy night-club where in-yer-face Miss Understanding (James Wolstenholme) and high-kicking Farrah (Jak Allen-Anderson) are giving it their all. They’re joined by an excellent trio of backing-group ‘Divas’ (Bernadette Bangura, Jessie May and Leah Vassell, magnetic every time they come onstage in their silver frocks and stilettoes) until the riotous audience are kicked out for being abusive. Trigger alert: expect swearing, crotch-grabbing and other adult content from the very start.
At this point, there’s more than a hint of panto dame about the Glamazon queens on show, with their psychedelic costumes (including one decorated with handbags, another with CDs) and giant headdresses. The wicked stepmother, meanwhile, seems to be the ramrod-stiff, po-faced Bernadette, eyeing the audience frostily as she delivers boom-boom one-liners. Of the Kylie-loving Adam, for instance, she says caustically, “Body by Baywatch, mouth by Crimewatch”. When he announces his intention of climbing, in full drag, to the top of Kings Canyon in Wattarka National Park, she ripostes, “Yeah, just what the country needs – a cock in a frock on a rock”.
Such corny jokes and double-entendres often fall rather flat – when you can make out what the cast are saying, that is. The diction, in both speech and songs, isn’t always clear, thanks to the curse of over-amplification.
“Unflagging”
Bernadette’s attitude softens, though, once a mechanic called Bob comes to their rescue in the back of beyond (Peter Duncan, providing some straight relief) and joins them for the rest of the trip.
As Tick, “a drag queen on the verge of a nervous breakdown”, Kevin Clifton makes less impact than he did in the real Lyceum panto, Aladdin, at Christmas, at least when he’s in civvies rather than full OTT bedazzle. However, his dotty rendition of Donna Summer’s ‘MacArthur Park’ is fun, and the scenes with his son are genuinely touching, thanks to Forrest Mahjouri’s charm as nine-year-old Benji.
Choreographed by Matt Cole, the ensemble as a whole is dynamic and unflagging, with Dance Captain Nathan Ryles also deserving a mention for his exuberance and fizz. And Vicky Gill’s 100+ costumes are the epitome of kitsch, encompassing wigs sculpted like icing and shaped like showercaps, shocking pink chiffon, polka-dots and more feathers than a flock of flamingos.
By the end, we stagger out, half-stunned by the flashing lights and the glare of the million-plus sequins and sparkle (including on the beards). Not to mention feeling as though we’ve swallowed a whole pack of Space Dust candy.
‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ is at Sheffield Lyceum until Saturday, before moving to Bradford Alhambra Theatre
images: Johan Persson
Clare is a journalist, former BBC Radio broadcaster and co-founder of the independent radio production company Pennine Productions. She and her national newspaper travel writer husband Stephen McClarence have been regular visitors to India for different work commissions.
Two years ago, their book, Teatime at Peggy’s: A Glimpse of Anglo-India, was published by Bradt: https://www.bradtguides.com/product/teatime-at-peggys/, and is now in its 2nd edition. They are currently working on a sequel.
Clare’s also written a number of books based on personal testimony, and is currently compiling an oral history of Sheffield Newspapers for Sheffield Archives and the British Library.
