Snow White - Interview #1

“ Rude, crude and not for prudes, this is the very adult, very hilarious, very demure pantomime from the team who brought you The Diana Mixtape, Death Drop, Cool Rider, Gals Aloud. “

Simon J. Webb, We’re having a chat during the photoshoot for this year's TuckShop panto, Snow White, that opens in just over a month on 15th December at London's Emerald Theatre. Given this conversation is taking place in mid-November during one of the mildest autumns in history I was wondering, on a scale of one to ten, just how Christmassy you are feeling right now?

Kyran Thrax, Christmassy? The thing is I'm a Halloween queen, so this time of year I just associate with Halloween... literally until Christmas Day. Christmas Day is Christmas Day... but every other day is Halloween. (laughs).

SJW, So even prepping to star in a panto this year isn't enough to bring on the festive magic?

KT, Well, in my own private fantasy world, this is a 'Halloween' panto.

SJW, Am I right in thinking that, along with a few of the other queens, this is your first time appearing in a TuckShop production?

KT, I did Gals Aloud one time a couple of years ago, but yes, this is my first time doing a TuckShop panto.

SJW, How has it been for you to join a company that already has a great track record for producing and performing such exceptional drag panto’s every year?

KT, They're just incredible. Chris Clegg is incredible. TuckShop is incredible. I've been such a huge fan of their panto’s every single year.

SJW, So you saw their hilarious take on Peter Pan last year?

KT, Yes, I managed to catch last year’s production before I went off to do a different show, and I was literally just so inspired. It had so much joy and was just so funny. I just loved everyone in it and I feel like the group this year is really great. Even just coming here to do the photo shoot today... this group just works together really well.

SJW, There's certainly a lot of energy in the room.

KT, Oh, it’s just chaos, (laughs), but I feel like we’re going to have a blast. I'm just so excited and happy that I get to spend the Christmas period with all of these queens... like, literally every single day... especially the diva Oliver Clothezoff who appeared in The Great British Bake Off, because I feel like we're going to get lots of nice cakes over the course of the show, which is going to be everything and more. (laughs)

SJW, Was panto something you grew up with as a kid?

KT, I feel like I discovered panto a little bit later in life, but I just fell in love with it so much. I did a panto tour last year for something like three and a half months!

SJW, Wow! You were going for it!

KT, Yeah, it was wild. It ran from January to the end of March, and it was just beyond everything I could have hoped for. Like, it's just so funny and I think what makes panto so special is just being able to break the rules of conventional theatre, and being able to just do what you want and have a good time... and you find so much of the essence of the show by just doing it. I feel like that's so gorgeous and I love that every single person can come on a different night and get a slightly different show.

SJW, With that being said, how easy will it be for you to actually stick to the script?

KT, Well, baby, I do love a good ad-lib. (laughs). I don't actually know what show I'm even in. Who knows? (laughs). Maybe I'll just start being Glinda halfway through the show…. yeah, not a clue! (laughs). It’s Kate Butch’s script and they'll be trying to keep me on the script... so naturally I'll be doing everything in my power to stay off script. (laughs).

SJW, I hope so because I remember last year some of the corpsing and the ad-lib’s created some of the funniest moments.

KT, Yeah. It did! It's amazing when things go wrong... it’s just such a gift.

SJW, You actually went to drama school originally didn’t you?

KT, Yes. I moved to London to go to drama school for four years in 2017, and graduated from East 15 Acting School in 2021... and now here we are! (laughs).

SJW, This upcoming three week run on a West End stage must have been the thing of dreams when you were just starting out at drama school?

KT, Yeah, it really was... and, not wanting to get too deep, but I'm working on recognising that... do you know what I mean? I feel like as queer people we're constantly wanting the next big thing. It takes so much for us to just sit in the moment and realise that, actually, maybe we should be present in what we're doing right now, because ten years ago I would have given anything to be here, and now I am. So I'm really just taking the time to look around the room, cherish every moment and be like, “You know what? You've made your dreams come true!”, which is really lovely.

SJW, It will come as no surprise that being and all-drag panto there's going to be plenty of adult humour to enjoy, and the wicked queen seems to be a role tailor-made for your drag aesthetic. Is this a gift from the drag goddesses?

KT, You know what... it really is! I'm loving it! I'm just so excited to get my teeth into something a little bit nasty, a little bit gritty and a little bit scary. (laughs). Yeah, so I'm excited. I'm really excited... I just want to get ugly which, as you’ll appreciate, is very hard for me to do! (laughs).

SJW, Surely this costume you are wearing today is not what you're calling ‘ugly'?

KT, No!!! Obviously, this is gorgeous, (laughs), but I want to go through a transformation. You know, in Snow White the Wicked Queen casts a spell to disguise herself and she becomes, like, really gross... for lack of a better word, (laughs), and I'm just so excited to find out what that transformation's going to be like. I just want to go through the whole shebang during this. I want to come out the other end of the show looking completely different. I want to go through the wars. (laughs)

SJW, Drag performers often rely on a sharp wit and spontaneity to react quickly to the audience during their own shows, so with part of the panto tradition being to encourage plenty of audience participation throughout, do you think you're going to find it hard to stay on script? I assume the temptation to suddenly start riffing with the audience is going to be very high?

KT, Well, I don't know... there's a balance isn't there. There's a fine line that you've got to tread with panto, (laughs), and with drag in general. I could ad-lib and just talk smack to the audience until the cows come home, but we do have a runtime that we probably need to stick to. (laughs).

SJW, Kate Butch has warned me that if I see a performance near the end of Snow White's run it's likely to be three hours longer. (laughs).

KT, Yeah, it's just going to have descended into absolute chaos... and we're all absolute narcissists so, you know, I'm sure that everything that comes out of our mouths each night are things we're going to want to keep in the show... so, yeah, the final show has the potential to be record-breakingly long. (laughs).

SJW, How will learning a full script be for you?

KT, Oh, it’ll be fine. It's like my bread and butter really. I always feel so happy when I get handed a script, I love to be creative. I obviously love to write and create my own stuff, but there's something really gorgeous about just being given something, and being told, “Learn that and do it as best you can!”. I just love that.

SJW, “... and don’t fuck it up!” (laughs).

KT, Or... maybe do! Who knows? (laughs). But yeah, I just love being given a script. I also learn scripts almost abnormally quickly. Whether there'll be line-accurate or not is another thing, (laughs), but I learn the essence really quickly. So I'm excited to just get it, learn it... and then destroy it all. (laughs).

SJW, Finally, why should people come and see this panto given just how many there are being staged over the festive season?

KT, You should come and see Snow White because Kyran Thrax is leading this panto into the West End, the one and only Bin Queen herself...

SJW, I've seen the poster... you’re top of the bill.

KT, Top of the bill! I'm top of the bill for a West End show!... can you imagine! (laughs). I love it! But, you know I think it's just going to be so wonderful... like, for real. I think it's going to be so gorgeous. We've got such a great group of people. You're in safe hands... well, actually, no, you're not at all, (laughs), but you're going to have a blast and a night to remember. It's going to be amazing!

TuckShop’s Snow White is on at the Emerald Theatre until 4th January 2026. Tickets available here

interview & photograph: Simon J. Webb