Saturday night in Conway, Arkansas, on the enchanting Hendrix College campus, students were streaming into Staples Auditorium to watch men in drag compete for the pageant title Miss Hendrix. I was sad to see all of the facebook statuses announcing everyone’s excitement at the upcoming show, because I wouldn’t be attending this year.
I was feeling a bit nostalgic and slightly depressed that I couldn’t be a part of the festivities when I remembered that last week my roommates and I bought tickets to The Donkey Show. I immediately perked up and thought, what a perfect night for this show!
So, on Saturday, while all of my old
Hendrix friends were watching men parade around in dresses over 1,000 miles away, I went to a disco rendition of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Despite my bright pink dancing boots and disco make-up, I was terribly underdressed amidst this dazzling troupe flaunting gold lame pants, afros, bell-bottoms, crop tops, platforms, and glitter. So much glitter.
The fairies, all beautiful men in gold short shorts so covered in glitter that they seemed to radiate light, weaved through the audience dancing with random people throughout the show. The actors involved the audience, calling on us for enthusiastic cries of agreement and encouraging funky dance moves.
The fairies were men (oh the irony), the men were women, the women were…well, just women. The show was drag-less. However, I did get my fair share of music, dancing, and cross dressing. And though I missed Miss Hendrix in both the literal and emotional sense, I did have a wonderfully entertaining Saturday night!
Filed under: Book Life Tagged: Arkansas, dancing, disco, drag, event, Hendrix, music, Shakespeare, show, The Donkey Show
