I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from Oraculum at Buddies in Bad Times.  I kew it featured a drag act and fortune telling but that was about it.  On one level it’s a show about the relationship between a straight bimbo PR consultant; Kayleigh, and her gay male twink friend; Matt, who is hustling a product line called Gape.  She’s about to get married and he’s doing all he can to undermine it including impersonating the on-line fortune teller she continually consults.

It’s packed with in jokes about how the gay community uses dating apps, reality TV shows, “personal brands”, trendy food faddism and the like.  It’s often very funny but I didn’t find it quite as uproarious as most of the audience but then I might just have been the only straight guy in the house and likely missed a lot!

It’s very well done.  The writing is pretty sharp and drag act Pythia and Denim are very polished.  The costumes (Pythia) (and the costume changes) are spectacular.  The use of projections (Cossette Pin) is brilliant especially for the on-line psychic stuff and the sound design (steph raposo) is excellent too.  Director ted witzel keeps things moving at a breakneck pace.  It’s 75 minutes of non stop action and it never drags (I know).

Obviously this is aimed at Buddies’ core audience which is likely much more attuned to the vibe than I am but I think it’s not without interest for people outside that scene.  But it’s not for the squeamish.  “Gape” is the least of it.

Oraculum runs at Buddies in Bad Times until December 14th.

Photo credits: Jeremy Mimnagh