Frat Haus: Evicted is a drag-theatre cabaret show that takes immersive performance, social satire, and glitter, and creates a comedy with heartfelt moments. The timely topic of Toronto’s housing crisis is told through a lens of drag, queer culture, and toxic masculinity, with drinking games and interactive moments with the audience thrown into the mix.
Part of the Toronto Fringe Festival, the production takes the stage at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre from July 2 to 12 as a co-production between Drag Haus & Theatre Collective and Apothecary Theatre, and features a rotating cast.
We spoke to Frat Haus’ Devery Bess, who stars in the show, about the project.
Devery Bess: The Interview
A native of Montreal, Devery Bess is a drag king and gender performance artist.
The show is presented by a performance collective who first got together as fellow contestants at Absolute Empires.
“I’m one of the co-producers as well as an artist in the collective,” Devery explains. “How we got started was we did a competition last year in 2024.” As a collective, they got to the semi-finals. “We just really enjoyed working together.”
“I got started because I, me personally, I felt disconnected from community,” Bess arrived in Toronto from Alberta three years ago.
“I didn’t care to win — I just wanted to create art,” they say. That feeling was shared by the other members of the collective, who belong to the trans and queer communities.
“I’ve talked about this for years, wanting to do theatre with drag,” Devery says. After the competition, the group decided to stick together and do more. Coyote Ugly became a collaborator, and Apothecary Theatre emerged as a production partner.
The group applied to the Fringe Festival with the venue already on board. This will be their first mainstage production.
The Art of Drag
“When I think about drag, I think about visual art,” Devery begins. “When you think about theatre or performance art, a lot of the time, it’s a collaborative experience,” they explain. Plays typically include input from a variety of people, including designers, and other back stage artists.
“Whereas drag is self reflecting. A lot of drag is like that, and so things get very interesting.”
Bess notes that Frat Haus: Evicted takes the individual expression of drag and adds the collaborative element of theatre. “That’s why Drag Haus is really cool.” The art and skills that go into drag, and the essential exploration of gender, merge into a collaborative setting. “Drag itself is a place where you can explore all of the skills you have in art.”
It can take many different forms. One of the performers, Andy Fetamean, is a puppeteer. “Drag takes from so many art forms to build something new.”
As Bess points out, drag has been around since Shakespeare and well before. “Drag allows for that safe space and community to explore your gender.”
Comedy, with Issues
With comedic moments, the show explores serious themes. “Essentially, I feel like, as artists, all of us have experienced what it’s like in a patriarchal society,” Bess says. The show satirizes and explores those notions in drag.
For the audience, the comedy is cathartic. “How we’ve been affected by toxic masculinity, I feel like there’s a release.”
Naturally, the crisis of affordable housing is something that affects everyone, and the show reflects that topical sentiment.
“We’re all renters. We’re all facing a housing crisis,” they say. “There’s a lot of frustrations for all of us as individuals.”
Bringing those genuine emotions to the piece adds to its poignancy. They’re hoping the audience will join in the silliness and engage with the humour. “I think it’s really feeling about the catharsis of our emotions.” The housing crisis itself has an absurd side. “It’s so silly. Everyone loses.”
That, essentially, is the message about toxic masculinity. “No one actually gets to enjoy their life.”
The humour comes from exaggeration and a sense of the offbeat. “Subverting it and making it gay.”
Audience Interaction
“Drag is inherently an interactive experience,” Bess says. “Drag itself is different than theatre.”
The audience gets involved in various ways. One of the acts will be pitched as an MLM (multi-level marketing scheme), and a small protest with develop within the space. Audience members can join in the fight back against evil landlords and corporations.
As at a typical drag show, you can also tip your favourite performers as they dance, and join in the drinking games.
“A lot of our cast is disabled,” Bess notes. That’s one of the reasons why they chose the accessible Buddies in Bad Times venue.
Show Details
Along with Bess, performers include Coyote Ugly, Andy & Stefan Fetamean, and Archie Called, with different guest performers each night. Specific nights during the run will be sensory-friendly and COVID-conscious.
- Before the performance run, you can catch a script reading of the show on June 15; details [HERE].
- Find more details, and tickets, for the performances at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre [HERE]
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