Guys in Disguise

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Guys in Disguise is an independent queer theatre company based in Edmonton, Alberta. [1] It was founded in 1987 by Darrin Hagen and Kevin Hendricks when they took their first show, Delusions of Grandeur, to the Edmonton Fringe. [2]

Contents

Guys in Disguise is best known for comedic and drag-based shows and has been credited for "exposing the voices of the drag and queer community to a wider audience." [3]

Work

Guys in Disguise productions include many premieres, many of them Hagen collaborations with such playwrights as Chris Craddock, Trevor Schmidt, Dana Andersen. In recent years, Jason Hardwick joined the artistic team, followed by Jake Tkaczyk. [2]

Guys in Disguise has been collaborating with Workshop West Theatre since 1991 to produce the Loud & Queer Cabaret, the first and largest queer performance festival in western Canada. [4] [1] [5] This annual event serves as a platform to nurture emerging writers. Following a three-year break, the Cabaret made a comeback in November 2014 under the name "Let Me Be Perfectly Queer!" [4] It featured a lineup of 25 performances over two nights, which included the premiere of a new film by Brad Fraser.

In 1996 their play The Edmonton Queen: The Final Voyage won the Sterling Award for Outstanding New Fringe Work [6] and was subsequently published in book form by Brindle & Glass Publishing. [7] The Edmonton Queen details Edmonton's underground drag scene in the 1980s. [8]

Hagen was also director of the 2024 documentary film Pride vs. Prejudice: The Delwin Vriend Story, about the Delwin Vriend case, [9] and served on the jury for the 2025 Dayne Ogilvie Prize. [10]

Influence

In 2021, a new exhibition at MacEwan University's John & Maggie Mitchell Art Gallery, "Dress & Escapism: Performance of Identity Through Drag and Burlesque Costume," featured the theatre company's mermaid tail costume, which first appeared in the Edmonton Fringe Festival parade in 1987. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 Nothof, Anne (November 15, 2021). "Hagen, Darrin". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Nicholls, Liz (March 22, 2012). "Celebrating a glamorous 25 years; Drag troupe Guys in Disguise pushes boundaries of showbiz". Edmonton Journal .
  3. ↑ Gorsak, Paige (March 21, 2012). "Honouring a quarter century of queen theatre". The Gateway . p. 17. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Media, Odvod (May 1, 2012). "Power Couples: Darrin Hagen & Kevin Hendricks". Edify. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  5. ↑ Nothof, Anne (February 23, 2022). "Workshop West Theatre". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  6. ↑ "The Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards 1996/97 Recipients" (PDF). The Sterlings.
  7. ↑ Korneloson, Christina (November 13, 1997). "Hagen's New Book Takes Readers Into the World of Drag". The Gateway . p. 8. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  8. ↑ Michelin, Lana (December 28, 2016). "A gay Central Albertan ahead of his time". Red Deer Advocate . Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  9. ↑ Cory Schachtel, "I May Never Wear Another Dress as Long as I Live, But I’ll Always Be a Queen.". EDify, January 26, 2025.
  10. ↑ Cassandra Drudi, "Tea Gerbeza, Roza Nozari, Ziyad Saadi shortlisted for 2025 Dayne Ogilvie Prize". Quill & Quire , September 3, 2025.
  11. ↑ Fish Griwkowsky, "Darrin Hagen is MacEwan's 2021 writer-in-residency, his mermaid tail on display". Edmonton Journal , January 21, 2021.
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