We’re invited to step into Robyn Herfellow’s post-apocalyptic world in Body Stocking Legion – a world in which everything once considered normal has been driven into hiding. Robyn’s queer musical takes place at the Body Stocking Legion HQ, where a rowdy band of revolutionaries play out the events of the lingerie uprising. Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club in London has been transformed into the HQ for Robyn’s ‘riotous battle against the mundane’, all amidst a campaign to save the LGBTQIA+ performance venue from closure.

We managed to catch up with Robyn for a pixelated pint to dive into their post-apocalyptic world, and find out more about the campaign. Join us here in the Binge Fringe Digital Pub.

You can catch Body Stocking Legion at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club tonight 15th April, or this weekend from the 18th-20th April from 7pm (90mins inc. interval). Tickets are available online.

Jake: Hi Robyn – we’re here today to talk about Body Stocking Legion which is taking place at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club from this weekend. The show has a special connection with its venue, can you tell us about it and what you’re aiming to achieve?

Robyn: In Body Stocking Legion, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club becomes the hideout for a band of revolutionaries amidst the fishnet apocalypse. Being barricaded inside such an historic, rough and ready club sets the scene of the show perfectly. The show features a hard-rocking live band, joining a long list of iconic musicians who have played at the club from Jarvis Cocker to Madonna herself.

Aside from the apocalyptic threat in the show, the club is in reality under threat of being closed and sold to developers. The building itself now has status as an LGBTQ+ venue, meaning if it is sold, it has to keep its purpose as a space for queer culture. The more we occupy the space with top-tier performance, the longer we can keep the iconic light-up heart on the stage beating.

Jake: We’re invited to step into Robyn’s post-apocalyptic world, in which ‘everything once considered normal has been driven into hiding’. Give us a little peep into that world and what the audience can expect.

Robyn: The lingerie uprising unfolds outside. “People everywhere are trading in their jobs, money and houses, for costume jewellery and fishnet stockings! No more work, no more wars, everybody just wants to f*** to party, and to be beautiful!”

The show takes place ahead of the Body Stocking Legion’s final push to take down the city of London, and they need recruits to join the revolution. There’s a new order and it’s queer chaos, but also community. Whether audience members have come for a riot or a hot meal, a live band takes them warmly by the hand and shows them how to survive the fishnet apocalypse.

Jake: You describe the show as a riotous battle against the mundane – what are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?

Robyn: A box of matches and a song in their hearts, ready to start the fires! And with that fire we’re not only free to be ourselves, but those who aren’t wearing fishnet stockings will cower in fear of the Body Stocking Legion! Whether audience members go on to start a fishnet rampage, or simply get that bit of courage to wear the skirt they dreamed of wearing, it’s a victory for us.

Jake: Tell us about working with the live band involved in the show and how the process of developing it all has gone.

Robyn: The first seeds of this show started as a solo show, with me and my piano only. As soon as the band entered, and Charles Quittner came on board as director, the show burst into life. It has now become something bigger than I could have imagined on my own. It not only turns the volume up on my songs of the revolution, but has become an ensemble show that has an unstoppably riotous energy to it.

I’ve spent years gathering the band of my dreams, all cutting edge queer musicians from different musical backgrounds. Musicians like them are a rare breed, as it’s hard to make it by as a musician when you don’t fit into the norm. Now that we’re playing together, there is an electric synergy that feels like we’re reading each other’s minds. I make one little shake of my butt, and the band reacts, they’re incredible!

Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?

Robyn: It would be a Molotov cocktail of course! Sparked, lively, and ready to burst, causing a heck of a lot of destruction. The best thing about a Molotov cocktail is how accessible it is. You might be a stay-at-home arts and crafts type, or an out-all-night raver, but whoever you are, there’s a place in the revolution for you!

A reminder, you can catch Body Stocking Legion at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club tonight 15th April, or this weekend from the 18ty-20th April from 7pm (90mins inc. interval). Tickets are available online.

Image Credit: Henri T Art