This is the first in a series of travel and culture stories spotlighting London, U.K. this summer.

My pre-COVID-19 social life revolved around the hilarious, chaotic and often inebriated queer performance scene in London, England. After spending the last couple of years in lockdowns in Toronto, I was drained by Netflix, Crave and Amazon Prime. I longed for the shared excitement of a live performance. I missed cabaret, alternative drag, burlesque. I missed the seedy pubs with tiny stages. I wanted that sense of apprehension you get when a performer walks on stage and you have no idea if they’ll recite a poem, swallow a sword or strip to their underwear before igniting it into huge flames with a lit cigarette. 

When the opportunity to head back to the U.K. for six weeks came this spring, my husband and I ignored warnings of rising COVID-19 infections and jumped on a plane, ready to rekindle a passion for my hometown with its vibrant queer performance scene.

We raced around the city seeing whatever we could get tickets for, the high-brow, the low-brow, the no-brow. We saw it all and loved a lot of it. The city really comes alive during the summer months and so here are my commendations for must-see queer performances and must-visit venues for locals and tourists alike.

Wilton’s Music Hall

1 Graces Alley, London 

This historic venue is found down a tiny back alley between Wapping and Whitechapel in the East End. Wilton’s is London’s (and possibly the world’s) oldest surviving music hall. First opened as a pub in 1743, an adjoining grand musical hall was added in 1859. This lavishly decorated hall served to entertain the working classes with a bawdy mix of singing, dancing, comedy, circus and novelty acts. However, as the…