THE LADY BOYS OF BANGKOK: FULL MOON at The Sabai Pavilion, Shepherd’s Bush Green 27 June – 12 July 2026 & touring
‘the audience was entertained by a cabaret, cruise ship-like carnival entertainment’ ★★★
Rose coloured circus-like tents pitched on the grounds of Shepherd’s Bush Green were the chosen venue of The Lady Boys of Bangkok: Full Moon’s tour of London. Stepping into the tent feels like boarding a cruise ship, complete with a disorienting, swaying sensation beneath your feet as the grassy ground seems to sway away.
For the next hour and a half, including a short interval, the audience was entertained by indeed, a cabaret, cruise ship-like carnival entertainment, full of colours, full of dazzling sparkling flamboyant costumes, full of bright feathers, sequins, leotards and lycra. The energy was high, the laser beams were sharp, the high-impact and lively catwalk amongst the audience before some of the performers reached raised platforms set in the middle of the tent, and on each side of the stage, created an immersive experience for the audience. Puppet creatures danced and jumped the night away.
The music played non-stop from disco to pop music, musical theatre, club hits, and camp classics. The Sabai Pavilion turned into an entirely unearthly space, where artists and performers danced, flaunted their arms, hips, legs and long straight sleek hair, gave energetic lip-sync performances paying tribute to pop royalty such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, and Tina Turner. One of the highlight performances was the impersonation of Tina Turner by the diva slash DJ Ole, whose comedic sketches and magician gig were a breath of ‘fresh air’ amidst the high-tempo dance tracks.
Eight of the twelve performers, ladyboys (kathoeys or katoeys) have undergone medical procedures to transform their male anatomy from their birth-assigned gender into females. In Thailand, the society does accept them as a distinct ‘third-gender’ rather than transitioning from male to female. Their rendition of the song ‘This is me’ thus seems so fitting as a proclamation of their new identity and a call for acceptance.
Which brought me to question, why? Why do these beings seek to occupy a role in a society that was historically not designed to leave females with many opportunities career wise? Women currently occupy merely 31% of senior leadership roles globally; in parliament women represent 27% of national parliamentarians worldwide; and of the 195 recognised countries in 2026, only 14% representing 28 countries had women as their Heads of State. Women movements are currently facing resistance from authoritarian systems globally.
Perhaps these entirely distinct species performers-creatures have understood something about the female state of being, that many women are still grappling with. Perhaps these ‘third-gender’ have undergone an extreme transformation anatomically as an act of advocacy or an act of defiance. Perhaps this is again, simply high commercialisation of the female gender. Hyper commodified femininity and objectification which consumers around the world relentlessly continue to take in, for the sake of entertainment.
https://www.ladyboysofbangkok.co.uk/
