Brighton Fringe 2026
The Ladyboys of Bangkok
The Ladyboys of Bangkok
Genre: Cabaret
Venue: Sabai Pavilion
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
‘The Ladyboys of Bangkok’ does exactly what it says on the sequinned tin!
Review
Celebrating its 25th year at Brighton Festival, this year’s Ladyboys extravaganza has a dedicated new home at the Sabai Pavilion, in Preston Park. The carnival high-top delivers a Full Moon-themed evening (inspired by Thailand’s famous all-night beach parties) and the result is as gleefully kitsch as any lover of high camp could wish for.
Exuberant performances, dazzling costume changes, wow-factor pyrotechnics and big-beat pop tracks all combine on the main stage to create a fun, fast-paced night out. A smaller stage, set among the cabaret-style tables, hosts individual performances ranging from raunchy twerkathons to elegantly (if far from perfectly) lip-synced numbers.
The troupe of impossibly beautiful ladyboys, scantily clad in shimmering hotpants and glittering headdresses, are complemented by three glistening male dancers who perhaps offer the strongest performances of the evening. The entire cheerfully chaotic format is overseen by a seasoned Grande Dame of drag, who pops up in various comedic guises throughout the night but truly comes into her own with a fierce Tina Turner homage in the second half. Cue glitter bomb.
Crowd work is inevitably a cornerstone of the show, and the mainly large groups around me needed little encouragement to give full hen-night vibes. Kitted out in feather-brimmed cowboy hats sold by the venue – making viewing tricky if you prefer to remain seated for the Macarena – they sang and danced gleefully along to I Will Survive, Beat It and lesser-known K-pop hits which the audience gamely attempted anyway. A series of giant furry panto costumes wandering through the pavilion felt bafflingly irrelevant – but delighted the excitable/well-oiled crowd nonetheless, who went wild at the mere drop of a cowboy hat.
The show feels shorter and less polished than in previous years, perhaps as the troupe get accustomed to the new venue. Longtime Show Manager Sandra Jolly is always keen to raise the bar with fresh new concepts, no mean feat after 25 years – and while the Full Moon theme didn’t always hit the spot, the party spirit was clearly thriving among the devoted fanbase, who left giddily happy, cowboy hats askew.
