A Living Leg-End

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BBC Radio 4 - A Living Leg-End

Meet Lavinia Co-op - transatlantic icon of the radical drag scene.

Fifty years in the business, and she’s still at it. Meet Lavinia Co-op - transatlantic icon of the radical drag scene. 

This drag queen, artist and performer is no stranger to holding court for audiences in bars, clubs and theatres. But in Living Leg-End, she invites you behind the curtain and into her home. Of course, she has stories to tell, always with a cuppa - from the bombed-out East End finding theatre and gay liberation, to the early 70s forming a radical drag troop, commandeering camper vans, and touring Europe with camp, comedic shows. There’s Lust in Space, Odds and Sods, Living Leg-Ends, Slung Back and Strapless. And living through the AIDS crisis in 80s and 90s New York, before migrating home. 

With shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race, the art of drag is becoming increasingly mainstream. But when Lavinia started out, she was a radical. She’s here to remind us that drag is a political act. 

Now in her early 70s, she’s feeling reflective. A triple-heart bypass hasn’t kept her from the stage, but it has slowed her. As she flicks through the rails of outfits which line her home - each evoking memories of people, performances and places - she explores what’s kept her from hanging up the heels over all these years. She might not crave recognition, that doesn’t mean it’s undeserved.

Produced by Michael Segalov with Jesse Lawson
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

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