I recently watched the drag show Drag Saga by the House of Heart. This group of amazingly hard-working and talented performers often calls their shows “stupid” and “silly.” To me, it’s never stupid; it’s always funny, and for the entire time I’m watching them on stage, I find myself in a happy place.
I had the opportunity to see their fantastic performance. Drag Saga was created for the Fringe Festival and even won the awards for Best Ensemble and for Best Marketing, though I would give them all the prizes for this piece. This group of young queer performers serves as a wonderful role model for teenagers, showing that being queer is vibrant and that our community supports one another. We never walk alone, and Drag Saga is a reminder of that. The show tells the story of how House of Heart was formed, all within a funny and engaging storyline.
But drag is political; it always has been. Drag challenges traditional gender norms and societal expectations. By playing with and exaggerating gender through costume, makeup, and performance, drag disrupts rigid ideas of what it means to be male or female. This act of defiance has long been a way to resist heteronormativity and the patriarchy. Moreover, drag gives a voice to marginalized communities, using humor and performance to highlight issues of inequality and discrimination, particularly for LGBTQIA+ people.
Through the art of drag, they conveyed the message that while Iceland is a very privileged country, there are still many groups in need of our support. By incorporating news feeds from U.S. media, the audience learned that drag is banned in some places due to misogynistic right-wing politicians. Isn’t one of the roles of comedy to discuss important issues under the guise of humor and laughter? House of Heart certainly did that during the show, delivering the message that if we stand together in solidarity and support each other, we can overcome a lot.
Our queer community has been through so much and continues to face challenges. For decades, we’ve shown that we can stand shoulder to shoulder and fight for our rights, and House of Heart reminded us of in the show.
We sat down for an honest conversation with members of House of Heart (Lola Von Heart, Chardonnay Bublée, Milo de Mix and Úlla la Delish).
“We would definitely describe ourselves as a “chosen family”.” Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
How did you come up with the idea for Drag Saga? What inspired you to create this particular show?
“We had wanted to do a “bigger” format show for some time, and when the collaboration with Reykjavík Fringe became a reality, we grabbed the opportunity and ran with it. At the risk of sounding obnoxious, we were inspired by our own potential—we wanted to see what we could do in a bigger production, in a larger “theatre-type” venue, with control over all details in our own hands. We are used to performing on small stages, in bars, or in venues where we are guests with little control over tech and other details. So this was a chance to push ourselves! We then got together for a two-day workshop where we came up with the concept and story as a group. There, we figured out which message we wanted to send with the show—one of hope, solidarity, and queer joy.”
Chardonnay Bublée. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
Drag bans villainize artists who are trying to make a living off their art form. They are often disguised as ways to “protect the children,” making it seem as though drag performers are dangerous to kids, when in fact, drag (like most other art forms) can be customized to age.
Could you share the story of how House of Heart was formed? How did you all come together?
“It happened sort of like how we describe it in Drag Saga. Lola, Chardonnay, and Milo knew each other a little bit from the drag scene, and when Chardonnay was starting drag, Lola became her drag mother. Milo started at a similar time and soon became Lola’s drag son as well. About a year later, Úlla was new to the scene and was “adopted” by Milo and Chardonnay, thus becoming a part of the family. At that point, we came up with the name House of Heart but didn’t really use it much publicly until we started our monthly shows at Kiki (Heart Attack) in the fall of 2022.”
Do you feel like you’re a family off-stage as well as on-stage? How has that dynamic influenced your performances?
“We are very close friends off-stage, and we would definitely describe ourselves as a “chosen family.” Also, Milo and Chardonnay are actually married in real life, and Lola and Úlla live together (they are roommates, but really, just roommates!). We lean on each other for support, and we share our daily lives, struggles, and joys. However, the parent-child hierarchy is reserved only for the stage. We see ourselves as four complete and equal individuals off-stage.
Milo de Mix. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
In our performances and general presence as a group, we sometimes play around with the family dynamic—it’s part of our “thing.” But the real-life, off-stage closeness brings us together in the willingness to create as a group, for example, in our infinitely stupid group acts that we never grow tired of making up.”
Who is responsible for the choreography and costumes?
“The entire show is choreographed, directed, produced, written, and designed by us. We owe a lot of our good dance moves to Ondina, the most amazing choreographer in Iceland. But if we are seen doing bad dance moves, that’s entirely our own fault! The most notable costumes in the show (the ones in the second part) are made by the lovely Lovísa Tómasdóttir. We had a vision of being sort of like queer superheroes, and she made that come to life with her magic! The other costumes are a collection of stuff we’ve made ourselves and found throughout our years in drag.”
How long did you work on putting this entire production together? Were there any memorable or funny moments during preparation?
Lola Von Heart. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
“From idea to show day, the process was around six months. We all have a busy life outside of drag as well (with full-time jobs!) and a monthly show to take care of, so we planned a few intense workshops over this period to make things happen efficiently. There were a lot of memorable moments, like our first read-through, where we couldn’t stop laughing at our own jokes, and when we almost quit drag altogether when we were choreographing the 1.5-minute battle montage scene—it truly almost split us up. But we made it through and had so many beautiful moments full of laughter and joy during rehearsals and, of course, on the show days.”
In a world that continues to push marginalized groups even further to the edge, we believe that showing pure joy, acceptance, and belonging on stage is very strong activism.
In your performance, you touch on drag being banned in some places. Could you talk more about that?
“In recent years, we have seen an intense shift in political strategies, where things like drag bans have been used as tools to further marginalize queer people. Drag bans villainize artists who are trying to make a living off their art form. They are often disguised as ways to “protect the children,” making it seem as though drag performers are dangerous to kids, when in fact, drag (like most other art forms) can be customized to age. Not all drag is for kids, much like not all movies are for kids, but the same logic applies—that doesn’t make movies OR drag bad for kids.
We never walk alone, and Drag Saga is a reminder of that. The show tells the story of how House of Heart was formed, all within a funny and engaging storyline. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
At the end of the day, drag bans are not about the art form at all; they are just another way to create fear around queer people, especially trans people, and to further restrict the freedom of queers to be who they are out in the world. In our show, there is a chapter where audience members hear clips from actual, real news reports of drag being banned in various places in the United States. We think it is important for the public to realize the severity of these hateful strategies, and that is why we gave it space in our show.”
What’s the main message you want to leave with your audience after watching Drag Saga?
“Our message, in all of our shows, is that queer joy is one of the most powerful things we have. In a world that continues to push marginalized groups even further to the edge, we believe that showing pure joy, acceptance, and belonging on stage is very strong activism.”
As role models for young people, why do you think it’s important for teenagers to see and connect with queer representation in drag?
“We all share the belief that, for young queer people, it is incredibly important to feel represented in the world, and we all lacked that when we were growing up. Seeing yourself in the world, in other people, means knowing and believing that you have a place in it. We are honored to be that representation for some of the young queers today.”
Drag Saga was created for the Fringe Festival and even won the award for Best Marketing. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
Why is supporting local drag and queer art important to you?
“As drag has become more and more popular in mainstream media, we have seen many wonderful things happen and more queer representation, but it has also meant that we see a limited and quite one-sided representation of drag. In the local, smaller drag scenes, there is such passion and self-expression, with queer people connecting through the art form, figuring themselves out, exploring gender and politics, trying new things… it is so very special and beautiful. Very different from the highly produced Drag Race shows that are very influenced by fame and money. Additionally, it is important to support ALL queer art, as queer artists are historically marginalized in the art world and are often overlooked in the media and by critics. Art forms such as drag, which are explicitly queer, are generally considered “less than” other “more serious” art forms because they don’t fit into the values of a heteronormative, patriarchal society. It is extremely important to support queer art so it can thrive, fostering resistance and love.”
Úlla la Delish. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
What drew you to drag as your chosen form of artistic expression? How has drag allowed you to explore and share your identity?
“We all found drag at different times for different reasons, but we have all spoken about the fact that drag made us feel closer to our queer community. It gave us a platform to express ourselves, our gender, and our queerness in new and exciting ways, sometimes through comedy, sometimes through sexuality, sometimes through hurt. It has been wonderful to have this art form, and this safe space to experiment and express.”
It is important to support ALL queer art, as queer artists are historically marginalized in the art world and are often overlooked in the media and by critics.
How long have you been doing drag, and how has your journey evolved over time?
“Lola has been doing drag for close to 7 years, Chardonnay and Milo for almost 6 years, and Úlla for 5 years. We all describe our experience as this: throughout the years, the divide between our everyday selves and our drag selves has gotten smaller. We have learned from our drag characters, and they have all been important parts of our personal journeys through life and self-fulfillment. And on stage, we have all evolved from a nervous mess into our most confident and glamorous selves! We are very proud of us.”
This group of young queer performers serves as a wonderful role model for teenagers, showing that being queer is vibrant and that our community supports one another. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
What challenges have you faced as drag performers, both creatively and socially? How have you overcome them?
“Most, if not all of us, have at some point felt artistic burnout and needed to take a little break; that is the reason why we emphasize joy in our art. We ask ourselves very frequently whether we are still having fun, and if we are not, we make some changes. Like most queer artists, we have also faced harassment and ignorance from random people and sometimes even felt a clash between the drag world and our personal lives (for example, in our other jobs). A big part of dealing with and healing from judgmental behavior and harassment is remembering the beautiful community we belong to—not only in our home country but across the world. We have found such beauty in forming relationships with other drag artists and sharing our passion, which is immensely helpful when dealing with all the wrongs in the world. Community truly means everything.”
Isn’t one of the roles of comedy to discuss important issues under the guise of humor and laughter? House of Heart certainly did that during the show, delivering the message that if we stand together in solidarity and support each other, we can overcome a lot. Photo / Odysseas Chloridis, courtesy of House of Heart
What are your dreams and plans for the future for HoH and Drag Saga?
“We’re excited to continue our monthly show, Heart Attack at Kiki, and to hopefully put on other ambitious projects as well. We would love to take Drag Saga on the road and visit Fringe festivals in other countries and connect with drag communities abroad. But most of all, we plan to continue having fun and exuding queer joy.”
House of Heart has a monthly show at Kiki. The next one planned on 5th October at 21.00.
