Divina de Campo takes on 14 roles in new London musical Amanda – The Night Before Me
The RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finalist stars alone in Rory Six’s musical about a trans woman looking back on her life on the eve of gender-affirming surgery.
Divina de Campo is to take on 14 characters in Amanda – The Night Before Me, a solo musical about identity, memory and the difficult process of becoming comfortable with who you are.
The production comes to the Bridgehouse Theatre in Penge from 22 September to 10 October, following performances in Austria and Germany. De Campo plays Amanda, as well as the people who have shaped her life: mothers, lovers, friends and the voices she carries with her.
The story takes place on the eve of Amanda’s gender-affirming surgery. As she waits, memories of her past surface, taking the audience through relationships, family, suppressed hopes and the moments that have brought her to this point. De Campo moves between 14 roles, shifting character and perspective within a single performance.
For De Campo, the show sits alongside a growing musical theatre career. They won Best Performer in a Musical at the UK Theatre Awards for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and have also appeared in Chicago. They are perhaps still best known outside theatre audiences for reaching the final of the first UK series of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The show also brings an interesting piece of European musical theatre to London. Written and composed by Belgian artist Rory Six, Amanda was originally created in German, drawing on conversations he had with a trans woman friend. The English version has been adapted by Charles Hart, whose credits include The Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love.
Six has said that the piece was intended to tell a story about living truthfully rather than presenting a single version of what being trans means. De Campo has similarly described Amanda as one particular trans experience rather than a template for everyone.
Musically, the show moves between ballads and more upbeat numbers, with humour alongside the more difficult parts of Amanda’s story. De Campo’s four-octave range is part of the musical challenge.
The Bridgehouse Theatre
Bridge House, 2 High Street, London SE20 8RZ
Tuesday 22 September – Saturday 10 October 2026
Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes, including interval
Tickets: £33–£37
Nearest station: Penge West
Website: amanda-musical.com
