Review: But I’m a Cheerleader at the Turbine Theatre, Battersea

If you’ve never seen But I’m a Cheerleader, the 1999 cult classic starring Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall, go find your nearest LGBTQ+ millennial immediately and ask them what this film meant to them. (Then go and watch it, because it’s wonderful.)

For me, as someone who grew up under the shadows cast by Section 28 (which was still in force until I was 13), this film was one of the very first representations of queer love I saw on-screen. It was certainly the first in which nobody dies, homophobia is condemned, and the girl gets the girl in the end. In 1999, I cannot overstate how revolutionary that was.

So how do you take a vital piece of LGBTQ+ media history and freshen it up for a 2020s audience, making it even more charming and queer in the process? You turn it into a musical, obviously.

What’s it about?

17 year old Megan loves her life. She loves cheerleading and is dating Jared, a football player, though she does not understand why she doesn’t enjoy kissing him. For a variety of reasons including the pictures of women she keeps in her locker, her taste in music, and her commitment to vegetarianism, Megan’s friends and family suspect she is a lesbian. This is unacceptable to her Christian parents, and they enrol her in “True Directions”, a conversion therapy camp that claims to be able to turn gay kids straight.

At first, Megan believes her loved ones have got it wrong. How can she be a lesbian? She’s a cheerleader! She decides to keep her head down, follow the programme, and graduate so that she can go home. But that’s before cute tomboy Graham catches her eye…

Any content warnings?

This show is set in and around a conversion therapy camp and deals with some of the abusive practices that go on in such places. Conversion therapy is treated with the ridicule it deserves as a practice that has been proven again and again not to work. However, it is still legal and still practiced in many countries (including the UK) and has been described as torture by human rights organisations. For that reason, survivors may find this play triggering. Conversely, it could be comforting and healing. If you’re a survivor, you know best which is likely to be true for you.

The show contains several references to sex and masturbation, including a scene where the True Directions campers are made to simulate heterosexual sex. There’s also some strong language, and the use of smoke and haze. The producers suggest this show is suitable for ages 16+.

But I’m a Cheerleader: My Review

I missed this show on its first London run earlier this year, so I was delighted to be able to catch it this time around. The Turbine Theatre is a delightful little space seating just 94 and located under Battersea’s railway arches. During quieter moments in the show, you can hear the trains rumbling overhead. It’s a perfect location for this show which, like its current home, is small but mighty.

In 1999, the original film of But I’m a Cheerleader was well ahead of its time, bringing us a feel-good, happy-ending queer love story in a time when there were vanishingly few of those. This over-the-top, candyfloss-pink, camp-as-hell musical pays a beautiful tribute to its source material and reminds us that Cheerleader’s message is still moving and relevant in 2022.

Jessica Aubrey leads the cast as Megan. With strong vocals and peppy charm in spades, she brings a convincing naivety to the role and has us rooting for Megan from the opening bars.

Megan Hill, making their professional debut as Graham, brings a sexy “bad girl” energy to the role which is as irresistible to the audience as it is to Megan. Their performance is at its absolute best, though, during the moments when Graham’s facade begins to crack and her true self - a brave but vulnerable girl who has been rejected by her family for who she is - comes to the surface. Hill and Aubrey are simply glorious together, and Megan and Graham’s eventual love scene is tear-jerkingly authentic and heartfelt.

Jessica Aubrey and Megan Hill (front center) with the cast of But I’m a Cheerleader. Photo: Mark Senior.

Georgina Hagen plays Mary, the owner of True Directions who is deeply in denial about her son Rock’s sexuality. Clad all in hot pink and with a powerful voice, she makes a hilarious love-to-hate antagonist in the form of a woman who is utterly convinced of the rightness of her own bigotry.

Georgina Hagen in But I’m a Cheerleader. Photo: Mark Senior.

With a cast of just 12, the small stage feels full and there’s plenty of multi-rolling throughout. I particularly enjoyed the performance of Freddie Love as Megan’s Mom and Lloyd Morgan-Gordon, two wildly different roles, and Ash Weir as Kimberley and Hilary. The latter’s fourth-wall breaking asides were among the show’s many comic highlights.

The songs are generally strong and memorable, with a few stand-out numbers. My personal favourites were “Step 2: Pink and Blue”, which pokes fun at gender stereotypes, “Raise Your Flag”, a gorgeous testament to queerness and inclusion sung by three very glamorous drag queens, and “Graham’s Kiss,” a sweet love song where everything finally falls into place for Megan.

But I’m a Cheerleader still feels like a musical that is finding its feet, which is unsurprising. Though originally written in 2005 and then performed for a brief 3-day run at The Other Palace in 2019, this new production only premiered in London in February of this year and then returned with the current cast last month. I truly hope it’s given another run soon after it closes at the Turbine next week, because with a little more time to develop and settle in, it has the potential to be every bit as iconic as the film that inspired it.

I left the theatre with a spring in my step and my heart full of queer joy. If you need some more happy endings in your life, catch this show while you can.

Where to get tickets

But I’m a Cheerleader runs until Sunday 27 November 2022. Tickets range from £30 to £36.50 and you can buy directly from the theatre. Hurry, though, because the final performance is already sold out and other performances are filling up fast.