An artful and unique blend of drag, music, and theatre will take over the stage at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough on Tuesday (November 18) when Public Energy Performing Arts presents Bijuriya by award-winning Montréal composer, experimental vocalist, and interdisciplinary performer Gabriel Dharmoo.
Described as “part drag spectacle, part sonic experiment, all radiant presence,” the interdisciplinary 80-minute solo drag show will begin at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are available at a sliding scale pricing between $14 to $54, with a recommended price of $34, at markethall.org
Dharmoo’s drag manifesto, “to shock, ignite, empower, and delight; make art, connect, engage, and reflect,” doubles as both recurring lyrics of an original song featured in the show and a promise of the energetic effect it will have on audiences.
Having premiered in March 2022 at Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI), Bijuriya is a hybrid of musical and theatrical performance that combines singing and lip-syncing with musical styles that range from original pop songs to experimental soundscapes and Bollywood soundtracks.
With imaginative vocal effects, costume changes, character transformations, and autobiographical lyrics, the show offers an examination of the intersection between queerness and brownness that explores different relationships between the voice and body.
“If you’re not familiar with the drag community, you’ll see how a segment of the audience is, and will get it,” says Dharmoo in a media release from Public Energy. “If you’re not South Asian, you’ll witness how the South Asian community will get parts of the show.”
VIDEO: “Bijuriya” trailer
“I think that’s a good metaphor for life,” Dharmoo adds. “I don’t like when people think there’s only one way of understanding or presenting things. By offering different windows into cultures and identities, people will come out of the piece with different experiences.”
A composer, experimental vocalist, interdisciplinary performer, and researcher, Dharmoo is half Québécois and half Trinidadian from the Desi diaspora. As a composer, his music has been presented across Canada, the United Stares, Europe, Asia, and Australia. His compositions have been honoured with many awards, including the Canada Council’s Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music and multiple SOCAN and composition awards.
Bijuriya, which means “thunderbolt” in Hindi, is named for Dharmoo’s satirical drag persona created in 2018 and known for her pride and quirkiness. The persona blends Dharmoo’s South Asian, Trinidadian, and Québécois heritages, often highlighting Bollywood and “teetering between tribute, parody, and critical thinking.”
This is seen in the song “Geeta,” which will be featured in the show, where Bijuriya’s hair is adorned with jasmine flowers reminiscent of 1950s Bollywood.
The song is written from the perspective of Geeta Dutt, an Indian classical and playback singer from the 1950s and 1960s, and is about the famous affair that her husband, actor and producer Guru Dutt, had with actress Waheeda Rehman. Guru would be acting on screen with Waheeda, but her voice was replaced by Geeta as the playback singer.
“By channeling the memory, artistry and life of Geeta in my song, I try to revive the agency and meaning of her voice, through my own voice and body,” wrote Dharmoo about his drag persona on Post45 in 2022.
VIDEO: “Geeta” by Bijuriya (Gabriel Dharmoo)
Other musical elements of Bijuriya includes Dharmoo’s sound design, which incorporates some of the past musical compositions he has written for solo instruments, chamber, or orchestra.
“I take pride in how my journey as a musician and composer has shaped my drag artistry,” Dharmoo wrote on Post45. “It is a large part of how I have curated Bijuriya, her choices, and the formats of her artistic output.”
The show follows Dharmoo’s first interdisciplinary solo performance, Anthropologies imaginaires, which toured internationally and was awarded at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival in 2015 and the SummerWorks Performance Festival in 2016.
The evening after Dharmoo’s Market Hall performance, Public Energy will be hosting a workshop for queer youth 25 and under at The Theatre on King titled “Finding your Drag Identity with Gabriel Dharmoo.”
Held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday (November 19), the workshop celebrates how multifaceted and diverse drag can be. Dharmoo will explore how lip-syncs, fashion, makeup, music, dance, comedy, and other facets of drag artistry can all be tools for creativity, confidence, and storytelling.
Participants will be encouraged to brainstorm and share ideas about their drag identities.
Tickets for the workshop are now available at a pay-what-you-can price at eventbrite.ca/e/1924299474529.
For more information about Public Energy’s 2025-26 season, visit publicenergy.ca.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a long-time media sponsor of Public Energy Performing Arts.
