Old age can be a drag!

An intimate portrait of ageing and friendship as Britain’s oldest drag act, Maisie Trollette, counts down to her 85th birthday celebrations.

After shaking his sequins for over fifty years, David Raven aka MAISIE TROLLETTE is about to celebrate his 85th birthday as Britain’s oldest drag act.

As part of the countdown, a surprise extravaganza has been arranged in the UK’s capital of camp, Brighton, with a very special guest flying over from the States.

At 88, Walter Cole aka DARCELLE XV is the Guinness World Record holder and still performs five nights a week at his show bar in Portland, Oregon.

But professional rivalries soon flare between Britain’s feisty Pantomime Dame and America’s regal Pageant Queen, and as his birthday grows nearer, David must deal with the unique challenges that performing in your eighties can bring.

Hilarious, heart-warming and often heart-breaking, MAISIE is an award-winning peek into the world of a character more colourful than his gowns.

Over the course of three years, Lee Cooper was fortunate to be granted unique access into the colourful world of both David Raven and ‘Maisie’. The film is a celebration of old age as well as a raw look at the realities of ageing, it captures the beauty of old age, and the drama that can be found in watching an old man struggle to get into a pair of glitter heels.

Old age is not ‘sexy’, and rarely spoken about in the older LGBTQ+ community. But who will look after us when we are older if we don’t have children or are estranged from our families at a younger age?

The film is an inspirational and emotional look at the life of a remarkable individual in our performance culture.

SCREENINGS

28th April - The Brewers Manchester, 4 Canal Street

23rd August - The Cockatoo Club, 20 Richmond street