I have been a long-time fan of Divina de Campo. I was first introduced to the drag queen in the 2018 show All Together Now, in which she was a favourite for both my 12 year old self and my Nannan who I would watch it with. This was followed by me rooting for her in the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019, and me going to see her perform as Plankton in the 2023 tour of The Spongebob Musical. All of this to say, I was incredibly excited for the chance to see her yet again on her comedy tour of her new show, I Do Think, at The Leadmill.
It is for this reason that I’m devastated to say that this show was quite the confusing disappointment. I like to think that this can be put up to the fact that this show was early in the tour’s run, and is only her third performance of it – however, it was filled with stilted deliveries and a series of confusing transitions. An example of this is where Divina spoke about her experience of being from a small town in Yorkshire and wanted to explain that it was an odd place to come from.
To illustrate this, she delivered a classic comedic triple with each part beginning, “you might be from Yorkshire if…”. However, it seemed to be lost on Divina that she was, in fact, in Sheffield, and therefore in South Yorkshire. This gave the moment an odd sense of her both reciting these jokes from a pre-written script that does not account for show nights that are in Yorkshire, and a lack of connection between herself and the audience. This could have easily been presented in a way that showed camaraderie with her audience that were from the same area, rather than the odd implication that the performance was not taking place in Yorkshire, which I don’t believe was her intention.
The show, however, was not without merit. Moments where it didn’t seem as though de Campo was just following the script and was instead the tenacious and lively performer that many had come to love were stand-out moments, such as her deliverity of insults towards other Drag Race UK queens. The show’s conclusion, in which she shared her experience of being groomed as a teenager leading to her calling the audience to live with kindness, was rather odd and abrupt but should be commended for its sincerity.
I remain a fan of Divina, and if she performs around the Sheffield area for another time I would love to see her again. Unfortunately, the show I saw cannot be called her best work but I earnestly hope that she finds her footing as the tour continues.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Divina De Campo ~ I Do Think played at the Leadmill on April 22nd & is touring the U.K. until May 9th
