Panti: High Heels in Low Places

Panti (Rory O’Neill) is a flamboyant persona whose drag queen performance lives up to all the traditional expectations: extravagant costuming and make-up, lip-synching, singing, dancing and adoration of glamour and glitz. However, there is a less common dimension to Panti’s stand-up routine. The highly political nature of Panti’s material has meant she has become a serious advocate for the LGBTI community.

Panti is outspoken about her rage against homophobia and her opinions brought her to the centre of a controversy known as “Pantigate”, which influenced the debate preceding the Irish marriage equality referendum. The show is a hilarious and poignant account of a very personal journey of homosexual desire. Panti’s sardonic style is unrelenting and the humour is side-splitting, however, her observations are also incredibly incisive. Panti’s material also demands a wider acceptance of more fluid notions of sex, gender, sexuality and sexual desire.

This makes the drag performance both amusing and confronting, and potentially even more intimidating than usual, but Panti is more disarming than alarming. She uses the role of clown or court jester as an opportunity to state harsh truths, whether she is referring to bad dress sense or homophobic crimes. Panti Bliss possesses a fearless ability to articulate ideas that would normally be considered “unspeakable” and presents them in a manner which is highly entertaining.

Patricia Di Risio

Photographer: Conor Horgan