Savage, a play about Paul O'Grady's rise to national treasure, to premiere in February

Savage, a play inspired by the life of Paul O'Grady, will receive its world premiere at Curve Theatre Leicester next February before a planned run in London's West End. Developed with the support of O'Grady's widower, Andre Portasio, the production casts Danny Beard, a winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, as O'Grady; Beard said telling his hero's story "feels terrifying".

The drama charts the unlikely journey from care worker to Lily Savage — complete with her dextrous use of expletives — to national treasure presenting heartwarming teatime TV shows about rescue dogs with Queen Camilla. It explores the years before O'Grady became a fixture of mainstream British television: performing through the Aids crisis, openly mocking police officers during raids on gay venues when they wore rubber gloves in case of contagion, and once mistaking a police squad for strippers before being briefly arrested.

United Kingdom, Leicester, London

paul o'grady, savage, lily savage, danny beard, curve theatre, leicester, west end, andre portasio, queen camilla, rescue dogs