Jonny Woo: Suburbia is a reflective and raucous act of cabaret at the Soho Theatre
“I left, but it never left me”
“In the land beyond the Elizabeth Line, everyone wears chiffon dresses”
It’s been 10 years since his last solo show at Soho Theatre so Jonny Woo has a lot to get off his chest. But whilst there’s all the bawdiness and burlesque that you might expect from one of his shows, Suburbia also has an immense amount of heart to it, a reflective hard-won intelligence that makes it just as affecting as mischievously appealing. (If you’re not familiar with the performer, do note there’s a strict 18+ age policy.)
Suburbia looks back all of the eras of Woo’s life, starting with Jonny’s childhood days in Medway, Kent. And in identifying some of the formative moments of his youth there, he’s able to reflect on how their impact has refracted across the decades, shaping his life and his art. From pick’n’mix counters at Woolworths to sex clubs in New York, iconically glamourous friends of his mother to the scuzziness of East London’s queer venues, it’s been quite the journey.

There’s lip-syncing, cabaret, spoken word and original songs, blended together but carefully curated so that if something might seem a little random – an early romp through Gypsy’s ‘Some People’ perhaps – the context for it elegantly emerges later on. The thread of how he came to have a large bag of chiffon dresses is similarly affecting as Woo dripfeeds us the details, a deeply considered acknowledgement of how everyone’s queer history is different yet can always still be celebrated somehow.
The show’s DIY aesthetic is perhaps laid a little bare on the main stage of the Soho but Sam Hoppen’s atmospheric lighting design does much set the mood and Woo clearly still relishes breaking down traditional audience boundaries – no matter where you say, prepare to be clambered upon! Establishing such a connection with us all works in so many ways – it’s funny, it’s sexy, it’s a little bit dangerous but most crucially, it’s disarming in a way that gets us totally hooked.
The personal narrative of someone coming of age in the time of HIV/AIDS is effectively told, that idea of how past events shape current practice, the power of self-reflection in no doubt. Musically, the show also stands out – reinterpreting Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Suburbia’ as a torch song is inspired, the vocal prowess of Barbara Pravi’s ‘VoilĂ ’ is equally strong (though Woo is too good to rely on the unnecessary weak Franglais gags he inserts therein). Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’ will never sound the same again though.