Tilly Capulet: All The World’s Her Stage 

Tilly Capulet is a Melbourne-based drag performer. 

In a conversation with Star Observer, she spoke about the importance of Queer spaces, drag storytime, and the future of drag.

Tilly, who has a background in musical theatre, first got into drag in 2011. Her inspiration— RuPaul’s Drag Race swinner Raja.

“I am a little ashamed to admit it, but it was definitely Drag Race that made me see how three-dimensional drag was.”

Growing up in South Australia, Tilly explained, “Adelaide drag was this sort of fun, silly stuff that you had in the background – you’d sit down and watch the shows, but it didn’t really connect with me on a personal level.”

With Drag Race, she discovered that “there were all these “different types of drag, and different types of people that were doing drag, and it was a bit more of an artistic form.”

First Time In Drag

She first got into drag while touring with a musical theatre company. 

According to Tilly, the men of the ensemble had a gig booked at Fluffy’s in Brisbane. “They were like, ‘Our show is gonna be better if we’re focused by a drag queen’. They knew how obsessed I was with drag race so they asked, ‘do you want to give drag a shot? We can choreograph you into this number.’”

Tilly jumped at the idea.

“I got the girls from the cast to do my makeup. But they didn’t do any blocking of the brows or anything like that. They were just doing their own makeup.”

“I felt shit hot, but baby, looking back at those photos, I did not look shit hot,” she recalled with laughter. 

A Rose By Any Other Name

Talking about how she came up with her drag name, she revealed that “Tilly” is a mash-up of two of her friends’ names. “Capulet” is a nod to her theatrical background.

“I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare. Capulet comes from Lady Capulet from Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. 

“She is outrageous, sort of alcoholic, chain-smoking, which is not me, but I love that exuberance. She was wearing costumes and just so dramatic, and to me, that’s drag. She encapsulated what I wanted to put forward.”

‘I Love That You Can Still Be Sexy But Confusing’

Tilly describes her style of drag as “dramatic mess.” 

“If you look at my aesthetics, it’s beautiful and it’s procured, but I’m a bit hairy and I’ve got hairy legs, and I don’t mind being trashier aesthetically.” 

She continued, “I love the message that women can have hairy pits, hairy legs. You can have facial hair and be whatever gender you want to be. I love that you can still be sexy but confusing. 

“Some men find me sexual but then they see the moustache and they’re a bit conflicted and I just love this… It’s just a touch of quirk.”

‘Mascots Of The Queer Community’

Tilly loves having slightly political messages in her numbers.

“Especially nowadays with what we’re going through as a Queer community,” she said. “It’s our job as the mascots of the queer community. To educate our audiences, whether they be straight, queer, gay, lesbian.”

Touching on “all this drag storytime bullshit that’s happening,” Tilly believes, “it’s just such a lack of understanding about what our community stands for, and I don’t think the other side is really educating themselves on what drag storytime is. 

“These people that are making so much noise, haven’t been to one before, and realise that it actually has nothing to do with sex. I don’t know where they got that. 

“They are saying that we’re grooming children because we’re reading them beautiful stories of love and acceptance.”

She continued, “Children deserve to see someone that’s truly being themselves. 

“Obviously, you’re not going to do the same thing at a bar that you would do in a drag storytime. But I know that if I was a child, and if I saw a drag queen when I was younger, my journey to acceptance may have been a little different. 

“I think it’s so important to show that we’ve got all different colours, all different walks of life, all different shapes. And sizes. And early you learn that the better human you’re going to be.”

Importance Of Queer Spaces

When it comes to protecting Queer spaces, Tilly emphasised that they are vitally important.

Queer spaces are where “we finally get to celebrate who we are,” she said. 

“Queer spaces are where we can truly be who we are. We can do what we want and what we deserve to do, and party, and let loose, and be free.”

For any aspiring drag performers out there, Tilly advises, “focus on what you want to do with your drag…Work out how best you can be a fantastic entertainer.” 

She continued, “Talk to other drag performers in your area. Get to know the people who are booking. Go to these events that you want to be hired at. Be a part of the scene. Learn how to host bingo and trivia because that’s how you make your money.”

Best Queer Spaces In Melbourne

When asked about her favourite Queer spaces in Melbourne, she said, “I think the best Queer spaces are these random events. 

“I know, Cerulean, who’s an amazing First Nations performer, started an event called Cozy which is all about POC excellence. And that will be very Queer. There are these small pocket things that pop up every now and then.”

Tilly also named the community-owned Pride of Our Footscray Nightclub & Bar.

“I love that place so much and I work there a lot,” she shared.

“Pride of Our Footscray, as far as diversity goes, it will have the most trans people. It will have the biggest spectrum of age and cultures… I love doing gigs there.”