As the world around us drowns, burns and fights to survive a global pandemic, it is no wonder that there has been a continuing proliferation of sci fi films and series that indulge our escape fantasies and desire to flee this self-induced hell. Interstella, Lost in Space, The Martian, Away, Gravity, Night Flyers, High Life, Passengers, Europa Report, Pandorum, Alien, Solaris, Silent Running; the list is endless. They share common themes and concepts that place their confined crew in peril: isolation, cabin fever, asteroids, deteriorating crew relations, suspicion, external threats, alien incursion, navigational errors.

Gays in Space incorporates them all as it dutifully falls into line behind these works. But it sets itself apart with its fearless, joyous campness. Creators Thomas Sainsbury and Jason Smith don’t just turn this well-worn trope on its head but give it a complete sci fi realness drag make over.

Three gay astronauts – Chris Parker, Daryl Wrightson and Zak Enayat – and an attendant sexbot, Blaise Clotworthy, are on their way to Uranus. The double entendres, sexual innuendo and dance moves come thick and fast in this joyful and exuberant confection. The acting is continually set at 11, as it should be; Parker in particular comes close to stealing the show with his elastical comedic thrashings about the stage.

The writing is full of zingy one-liners and bitchy banter, the vocal harmonies and singing – music and live accompaniment by Jason Smith – are excellent and the dance sequences are pumped and infectious.

Sainsbury introduces a number of social commentaries into the piece; Gay pride, Grindr hookups, internalised homophobia, non-traditional relationships and social media stardom. However these are so slight that they really don’t carry much weight, nor should they. Rather they serve to propel the narrative and character development forward with supersonic speed. This is a piece that revels in its gayness and Campness (that’s camp with a sequin encrusted C).

In the late sixties in New York, John Vaccaro and Charles Ludlam were working in a genre known as Theatre of the Ridiculous. Loud, over the top, full of drag queens and glitter, Theatre of the Ridiculous was at least in part a reaction to the apologetic and hesitant beginnings of mainstream theatre’s representations of queer people. Contemporary plays like Boys in the Band and The Killing of Sister George presented gay men and women as sad, troubled and problematic outsiders. Vaccaro and Ludlam, on the other hand, celebrated queer identity in an unapologetic, revolutionary and strident way. Rather than trying to explore issues and meaning they created work that was deliberately superficial, over the top and artificial.

Gays in Space is a direct descendant of this work. Camp for the sake of camp. This is where the piece is the strongest. As a result, the audience throughout is raucous and totally appreciative of the performers’ commitment and energy.

Gays in Space is an excellent, joyous antidote to the Wellington mid-winter blues.

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