Waterford play 'Dress You Up' is 'a love letter to the 90s'

Dress You Up, an upcoming play presented by Stagemad, is receiving its finishing touches ahead of its debut this October in Waterford.

The play tells the story of Bobby, an aspiring drag queen still reeling from his mother’s untimely death. As Ireland welcomes a new Taoiseach, Britpop throws its last hoorah and Girl Power becomes part of pop culture towards the millennium, the summer of 1997 in which the play is set, will shape and change the lives of each character. 

“The play really is a love letter to the nineties," writer, Wayne Power told the Waterford News & Star. "We use various news stories and music from that time, especially Madonna, whose song the play is named after."

The original draft for the play was written by Wayne in November 2022, and has since evolved into a fully fleshed script. Sharing insights into  bringing it to life on stage, Wayne said his transition from poetry to playwriting signified the next step of his creative journey.

 “This is my first proper outing as a playwright and it’s kind of scary on a lot of levels," he said.

"Poetry and spoken word comes very easy to me, whereas with the playwriting, it was a bit more intensive, but still very satisfying. It’s been amazing so far. To write it and see people read your stuff and then act it out is surreal." 

Reflecting on the inspiration behind the play and its main character Bobby, Wayne said: “It’s not autobiographical but there’s definitely similarities between myself and Bobby. There's themes of acceptance and freedom to be yourself and I hope that will resonate with people.

“With Bobby, it’s not really a tale about his orientation, but more about who he wants to be in life. He’s a scared and vulnerable 16-year-old who’s not only struggling to come to terms with the death of his own mother but also with who he is and who he wants to be."

"The play is set in a small city in the Summer of 1997. For me, at that time I would have been 13. I remember all that music, the different news stories of the time. 

"I have a great fondness for that era and I wanted to bring that nostalgia to people."

Dress You Up will play at Bank Lane from Tuesday, October 22, to Friday, October 25. Tickets are available at gr8events.ie