Milo Standards: Penis de Milo

Milo Standards: Penis de Milo ★★★★★

This Review is from August 2024

Traditionally, Drag Kings are women performers who adopt masculine attire and embody male gender stereotypes. Drag has been part of the British entertainment scene since the days of the nineteenth century music hall. Interestingly, in China, women took to the stage to perform as men as early as 700 CE.

The great drag stars of any era, be they kings or queens, are not just performers dressing up. They are satirists, lampooning gender stereotypes and societal norms. We already know Kate Smurthwaite as an intelligent, political stand up comedian, but proper drag isn’t easy. Can she cut it? Yes, she can.

Milo Standards is a great drag name. He’s a contemporary male chauvinist bigot, a Brexiter, an English Donald Trump – too arrogant to spot the obvious contradictions in his stream of consciousness assertions.

This is not a bombastic over the top performance. Milo is a fully rounded character, rather than a simple caricature. And like all good satire, among the laughs, of which there are plenty, the jokes provoke serious pause for thought.

And the finale was gold. As the performer explains, at the end of a show a drag queen typically ‘untucks’ in front of the audience. They wipe off the makeup, take off the shapewear and heels. The way that Kate chooses to untuck is powerful and beautiful.

I loved this show. I’m convinced that if the comedian had decided to bankrupt herself by booking a run at the Pleasance Courtyard, Milo Standards: Penis de Milo would be garnering five-star reviews across the board and winning awards. As usual, the audience are ahead of the inward-looking comedy industry – this wonderful show maintained strong audiences throughout its Edinburgh Fringe run.

One day Kate Smurthwaite will receive the wider credit that she deserves.

Martin Walker

Publication of this review was delayed due to the writer getting Covid.

Interview with Kate Smurthwaite

Image by Guy Smallman