‘I need people to know I’m not a cartoon’: drag queen Le Gateau Chocolat’s fabulous rise

From Glyndebourne to the Globe, actor, opera singer and drag star Le Gateau Chocolat is a UK stage fixture – although not everywhere has been so welcoming

In a big, bright rehearsal room at Southwark’s Unicorn Theatre, Le Gateau Chocolat is giving feedback to the new cast of his revolutionary children’s production, Duckie. His fingernails, painted an iridescent shade of blue, flash in the sunlight as the cabaret star, opera singer and all-round entertainment powerhouse praises his tiny team and smiles.

First imagined in 2015 – in part to offer comfort to his young niece, who had recently moved to the UK from Nigeria and was struggling to settle in, and in part upon realising that a drag queen’s natural audience is a gaggle of excitable kids – Duckie is a radical reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling. Following acclaimed stints everywhere from London’s Southbank Centre to the Fringe World festival in Perth, Australia, Gateau is now stepping down from the lead role for its festive run at Manchester’s Home theatre. Instead, it will be shared by two young actors, both non-binary and one neurodiverse, with aspects of the part adjusted accordingly.