Review: Grandmother's Closet

Performed with jazz hands, lipstick, and spit-and-polish determination, Grandmother’s Closet is a gentle autobiography of self-discovery. Writer and performer Luke Hereford welcomes us with open arms, as if we’re guests in his nan’s cozy, chintzy living room, and it really is easy to imagine this family home stuffed with memories – his storytelling is detailed and familiar, with the sweetly painful nostalgia of old home video tapes.

The neatly maximalist set design is nan’s house perfection; a cluttered dressing table and glamorously overstuffed wardrobe are Hereford’s dance partners, as he brings us childhood flashbacks through a series of musical mashups. Backed up by exuberant Bobby Harding on keys, Hereford has a strong voice and even stronger commitment to his favourite divas: a Judy Garland moment is impeccable, a Kylie/Kate Bush blend is particularly ambitious, and a Scissor Sisters extravaganza brings down the house.

But beyond the sequins and polyester, the heart of the show is Hereford’s double-act with his grandma – by all accounts a woman so glamorous she could shield him from the difficulties of growing up queer in a small town, but also who pushed him to discover the wholeness of himself. The storytelling falters when it steps back into the present day, and there is more to explore when Hereford worries about losing their shared stories due to her developing dementia, but this is a tender, cathartic show with a glamorously large heart.