Review: BRENT WOULD'S GOT WOOD, Soho Theatre

"I’m so sorry if I spat on you - I’m drama school trained”

Brent Would’s Got Wood is a “drag king cabaret romp,” with Would (Francesca Reid) desperately attempting to find love through flirting with and singing to audience members. The show’s description even mentions the opportunity to “win a date” with Would - it would appear we’re in for quite the romantic evening! But, don’t worry - if you come to the Soho Theatre looking for a show about trees, don’t worry, Would’s got you covered.

The drag king has a ridiculous amount of tree-related puns and jokes, with one of my favourites being “Trees have leaves like my dad did,” which led to some groans from the audience. 

But quick quips and tree facts aren’t everything that Would had to offer to us. Accompanied by Jacob on guitar and backing tracks, Would performed several songs throughout the night, including a hilarious parody of The Lion King’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” titled “Can I Sniff Your Pants Tonight,” in which Would threw lacy pants out into the crowd (I was one of the (un)lucky members to be hit with one of these). Jacob added in a few quips of his own as well throughout the show, along with completing his assignment of searching for facts about singer Shane Lynch.

Would has a great talent for crowd work, interacting with a range of audience members on topics ranging from romance to how their day has been. This is, after all, a way for Would to decide who will be going on a date with him at the end! According to Would, he met all of the audience members on Hinge and didn’t want to go through the draining process of meeting all of us indivudally, so we have been invited to meet at Soho Theatre. But, of course, all of this is done with the consent of audience members, so if you do not want to participate you don’t have to. 

One segment of the crowd work involved Would asking a few audience members questions before coming up with songs based on these interactions. One song was based on flirting with audience members, leading to some great rhymes with names like Raymond and Candace. Anothr song was about the “shit gifts” audience members received including stiff oven mitts, prunes in a hamper, a deformed cat sculpture and an empty Aesop bottle.

Brent Would’s Got Wood is a fantastic drag king show in which Would demonstrates impressive improvisational and singing skills, making for a hilarious sixty minutes. I look forward to seeing more from Reid in the future, both as a singer and a drag king!

Brent Would’s Got Wood ran on 9 February 2024 at Soho Theatre.

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