Over twenty years since its last West End performance, Hedwig and the Angry Inch comes to The Courtyard Theatre, at the Leeds Playhouse, where Leo Owen caught the show

Adapted as a 2001 film with a cult following resulting, a stage revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch has long been overdue. The story of Hansel seems all the more relevant today as debates around transgender athletes still rage. Keen to marry US sugar daddy, Luther, and flee East Germany for a fresh start as Mrs Hedwig Robinson, Hansel undergoes gender reassignment surgery. When the Berlin Wall comes down, she finds herself divorced, penniless and alone in a mobile home in Kansas, surgery botched, leaving a one-inch mound of flesh, christened “The Angry Inch”.

John Cameron Mitchell’s script jumps between the past and present with Hedwig telling her story as part of a touring show. Director, Jamie Fletcher, reimagines the play in a series of rundown UK social clubs and community halls. Ben Stones’ set design gives nods to Stephen Trask’s punky soundtrack with pink glam rock lettering above the stage. There’s a pub set up stage left with a payphone and English flags while a four-piece band (Alex Beetschen, Frances Bolley, Isis Dunthorne and Jess Williams) are centrally positioned on a platform and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” plays from an old ghettoblaster stage right. A misused over-head projector with the words “Hedwig” placed upside down signals the start of the show and establishes its playful tone.

The band announce Hedwig’s arrival as she walks down from the balcony, heralding applause, accompanied by the US national anthem. Wearing an American stars and stripes cape RuPaul's Drag Race runner-up Divina De Campo undoubtedly inhabits the role. She swaggers about, drumming up further support, before flinging open her cape to reveal the words “Gender is a construct”.

Strutting the stage, Hedwig recalls growing up with her mum in East Berlin after her GI dad left. Her narration is saturated with innuendo and wryly explains how she took to the stage, remembering her impoverished upbringing. Apologising for the bitterness of narration at times, Hedwig is accompanied by analogue TV screens displaying key dates of life events.

Trask’s songs encourage occasional audience participation but more often than not seek to capture Hedwig’s raw emotion, allowing the audience to see her stripped back without the cocky stage persona. Hedwig’s biggest heartache comes from her rockstar ex- Tommy Gnosis, who seemingly dumped her for fame without even acknowledging the impact her songs had on his rise to stardom. His betrayal is clearly something her character has not moved on from and this is signified by her being unable to step through a door at the side of the stage that frequently acts as a portal to Tommy’s touring gigs. The song “The Long Grift” perfectly illustrates Hedwig’s pain, alongside “Angry Inch”. “The Long Grift” feels the most heartfelt and accomplished as a wigless Hedwig wears nothing but a kimono, performing above the set, strobe-lit and stripped down in terms of clothes and emotion.

Poignant, funny and very relevant, Hedwig and The Angry Inch is virtually a one-woman show. Aside from the band, the only other character present is Hedwig’s new husband Yitzhak (Elijah Ferreira) and there’s a wonderfully amusing anti-chemistry between the two. Charismatic and captivating, De Campo has enormous energy and an impressive vocal range, expressing a huge repertoire of emotions and garnering a well-deserved standing ovation. Brave, honest and moving, Hedwig is certainly a show like no other.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch shows in The Courtyard Theatre until April 23:

https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/events/hedwig-and-the-angry-inch/