The unstoppable drag performer, and one of the incredible stars of GCN’s online series Beducation, Avoca Reaction shares with Ranae von Meding the future of their inclusive and diverse queer cabaret.

Portrait by Aaron Stephen McGrath.

‘cos that’s what drag should do!

Wren Dennehy (they/them) is a creative producer and queer performer from Co Kildare. We first met while we were both working on a show in Dublin last year. At the time, I had no idea that Wren is also Avoca Reaction - queer drag performer extraordinaire.

A few months after initially meeting, Wren got in touch to see if I would come and take part in the second ever instalment of their new ‘Queer Cabaret’ - it was to be themed as ‘Activism’. They knew about the work I’d been doing for LGBT+ parental rights and kindly asked me to come perform and speak about it.

So I went along to Drop Dead Twice, where I met Avoca in all their glory. I was taken aback by their energy, charisma and the sheer hustling that I witnessed. They ran around backstage making sure that all the performers were okay, giving last minute directions, figuring out the running order, sound issues, and then, without missing a beat, they hopped up on stage, not only to MC the night but give a kick-ass performance of one of my favourite musical theatre numbers, ‘Life Of The Party’. No lip syncing in sight. I was genuinely blown away.