They are here to rock your body while hanging tough. No matter what they tell us, the “boys” of Man!fest are back – but for good? This drag king musical is high-octane fun, but behind the glitz and glam it seems being in a manufactured pop group ain’t nothing but a heartache. The manosphere is here, so put your hands up!
The four-strong cast burst on to the stage with so much punch, panache and power that the audience are immediately on board. Esther Dracott, Maddie Bell, Hollie Jameson-Clarke and Emily Benucci play the eponymous music group, who are “all man” – except that they are played exclusively by women. The choreography is slick, the vocals are on point, and there are abs on show to make the fangirls swoon. Part boyband pastiche, part exploration of the cultural machinery behind the phenomenon, Man!fest is a whole lot of fun with a serious underbelly.
As with any successful boyband, Man!fest has its architypes. Ewan is the romantic one, Cody is the sporty one, Ash is the bad boy, and Ruben is the baby. But when greedy music execs decide to meddle, they upset the balance and the whole house of cards begins to tumble. These sections are cleverly written and staged, and highly reminiscent of the many tell-all documentaries from erstwhile boyband stars. The first half of the show gets this exactly right, with catchy songs and satirical wit in abundance.
One of the most compelling aspects of the show is the emerging relationship between Jameson-Clarke’s Ash and Bell’s Cody. With pressure on all sides not to give in to their feelings, the two battle their inner demons and ideas of what masculinity means as they try to keep their hands off and their desires on the DL. Ash’s solo song is a stand out moment, and both actors show real sincerity and depth.
Unfortunately the character growth for Ewan and Ruben feels far less developed, with the two becoming malevolent forces with no redeeming qualities. The execs may have started the ball rolling, but these boys have run with it, and without a backstory or driver become two dimensional. They may be a useful representation of toxic masculinity and the rise of the manosphere, but there is no nuance as to how they get there, and no consequences seem to be coming their way. The second half starts to lose its way, is very heavy handed with an extremely serious subject, then ends abruptly and in an unsatisfying way. It is unclear if the writers were unsure of the final message of the piece, or of how to pivot to reach it, but it needs to be figured out if the whole is going to be as good as the sum of its parts.
Man!fest is a really enjoyable piece, but has to decide what it is and how to tell the serious part of the message in a more effective way. The drag king boyband idea is hilarious and subversive in and of itself, but if they can hit the right note on the other aspects they can really make a hand-clapping, hip-shaking, heart-breaking piece of work.
By Deborah Klayman
MAN!FEST: The Drag Boyband Musical plays at Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh until August 31st 2026.
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