Q-RIOUS is a contemporary drag and cabaret show inspired by the variétés of the interwar period. We look back at the smoky parlours of Berlin and Paris in the 1930s, where performing arts, satire and decadence coincided with political tension.
It was in this context that stages emerged where gender became fluid and humour was a weapon. The Pansy Craze brought performers who disrupted the rules and claimed a space for themselves in a time of crisis, polarisation and rising extremism. Today, what grew out of necessity back then resonates once again. In a world where the threat of war, genocide and ideological hardening are not distant history, this tradition reminds us that performance can be both an escape and a form of resistance.
On 15 May, we will bring that spirit to life in De Foyer at Het Toneelhuis in Antwerp, an intimate setting where performance and experience merge.
