REVIEW: MY DAD WEARS A DRESS @ BARONS COURT THEATRE

🎭 My Dad Wears a Dress

📍 Barons Court Theatre, 28a Comeragh Road, London, W14 9HR

🗓 Wednesday 23rd November 2022

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BELIEVABLE AND FROM THE HEART

My Dad Wears a Dress is a one woman show, currently playing at Barons Court Theatre. Written and performed by Maria Telnikoff, it is her autobiographical story of growing up with a transgendered father.

The set is simple and all around are childish scrawlings. There are projections of Telnikoff's childhood pictures on the back of the stage throughout and music is played as the scene's change and Telnikoff erratically changes costume!

Telnikoff is fantastic at portraying the conflict that her younger self felt. Of course she adored her father and was comfortable using she/her pronouns, but at the same time was worried about the reaction of her school friends if they knew.

When her friend emails her dad an invite to a party, Telnikoff tells her story.

It is a touching story and often hilarious too. She has a real knack of telling the story in a both excitable and touching way that keeps you engaged and wanting to know more. It's not exclusively about her dad and their relationship, but everything comes back to this.

We see her praying to Hugh Laurie (yes you did read that right!) and struggling at school when having to draw her family tree and being told by her teacher to make it up! There's also a French lesson where she refers to her dad with the female 'ma' but is forced to change it to the masculine 'mon' so she can pass.

There's an honesty that comes across throughout and you realise how simple everyday things could cause such conflict in her young mind. Things such a choosing a Father's Day card. Did you ever realise how blue and brown all the cards are? What if your dad is female?

Telnikoff connects easily with the audience and at times comes right up to you and gets in your face! You're not quite sure whether you should smile or not, but it's a fantastically intense couple of seconds which adds another level to the piece.

Throughout the performance there are relatable moments for everyone too such as a Valentines mishap.

What I love most about this is that Telnikoff uses her platform to tell such an important story. Ultimately, she discovers that society can be accepting and a huge weight is lifted and she feels she doesn't have to hide her truth anymore.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves theatre and wants to witness a story being told with honesty and believability.

For an added bit of fun, she hands out party poppers so that the performance can end with a bang!

My Dad Wears a Dress has one more performance tonight (Saturday 26th November) at London's Barons Court Theatre. Head to https://app.lineupnow.com/event/my-dad-wears-a-dress to book tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest and free from influence.

My tickets for this performance were gifted by Maria Telnikoff who invited me to review her show.