Garrick Sigl and Malcom Morgan-Petty Photo by Caiti Lord/Madrid Emulsion

It could not have been easy to grow up Black and gay in a small Georgia city in the late 1900s, but Anthony Knighton (as the uncle is called in this play) learned from his grandmother to "stand up straight in a crooked room." Anthony assumes the persona of drag queen Courtney Berringers, and he sure does stand up straight (although not in every sense of that word).

The play is a series of episodes from near the end of Courtney's life, interspersed with lip-synced numbers and plenty of wig and costume changes. It centers on the relationship between Courtney and the novice drag performer Vickie Versailles/Hunter Grimes who shares the same dressing room. They quickly become more than teacher and student.

Early on, Vickie tells Courtney that he is HIV positive but is on medication for it. Courtney says that he is also positive but "unmedicated." This seems to be a self-destructive choice that he has made, since by 2004 there were effective meds available for HIV infections. Or is it that he could not get the meds because of being Black and poor, whereas Vickie is white? In any case, we know from the title of the play what is going to happen.

Despite this trajectory, the play is joyous and often laugh-out-loud funny. This is due to the snappy dialogue by Mr. Guest, the crisp directing by Damian Lockhart, and the terrific performances by Malcom Morgan-Petty and Garrick Sigl. Malcom is a force of nature as Courtney and a damn good lip-sync artist as well. The highlight for me is his performance of the spoken monologue at the beginning of a Shirley Brown song called "Woman to Woman" that I had never heard before. Garrick gives a fine performance, too, but who can hold a candle to the explosion of energy that is Malcom?

Alex Whittenberg's set has to be seen to be believed: a riot of color, including neon lights. The costumes by Nicole Clockel and wigs by the House of Kanela are equally fabulous (I hate to overuse that word, but it's a show about drag, after all). I was expecting this to be a simple production, but it's actually quite tech-heavy. Lighting design by Fabian Garcia, sound design by Santiago Chacon, and props by Krys Applegate are all perfectly done.

My only quibble is that the show could be a little bit shorter. Even though it only lasts about an hour and a half, there is a segment about a West African story that looks like it dropped in from another play and could easily be cut. Other than that, it's (dare I say it) a fabulous time at the theater.

At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen runs through May 31, 2026, at Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 East De Vargas Street, Santa Fe NM. For tickets and information, please visit santafeplayhouse.org.