QUAMBATOOK’S latest foray into cinema screening has provided much more than the novelty of a major picture screened on the concrete sides of one of the Mallee town’s massive grain silos.
The screening of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Saturday night tapped into the mischievous and adventurous attributes of many patrons and provided an early taste of the movie’s theme in pre-theatre entertainment.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce and a transgender woman, played by Terence Stamp, as they journey across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus that they have named “Priscilla”, along the way encountering various groups and individuals. The film’s title references the English slang term “queen” for a drag queen or female impersonator.
A number in the audience hammed it up in flamboyant outfits reminiscent of the camp nature of the picture.
Two imported female impersonators warmed up the crowd of over 300 before sunset with a song and dance act after each making a grand appearance on the back of motor trikes.
Some patrons were bussed in from neighbouring districts and some were unrecognisable as they stepped out into the shadows of the grain silos dressed in drag.
The innovation of using a local structure in an unusual manner has been a great success and is a triumph for the small eastern Mallee town.
