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The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen
5 out of 5
Stage 10, Edmonton Public Library Strathcona Branch, 8331 104 St.
The 2026 Fringe has several one-person shows spotlighting forgotten historical figures, but The Real Black Swann is among the top of the pack.
Playwright and performer Les Kurkendaal-Barrett tells the true story of civil rights pioneer William Dorsey Swann, a former American slave who was the late-1800s “Queen of Drag“ and America’s first queer activist.
Going into the show, I knew that Kurkendaal-Barrett had won awards worldwide for their portrayals of Swann in places like Prague, Dublin, Gothenburg, and Orlando, to name a few. After the show, I understood exactly why it’s such a beloved production.
Kurkendaal-Barret is an exceptional storyteller who will grab your attention from the moment the lights go up, opening the show by daring to step out of the protective “ Glinda-the-Good-Witch bubble” he’s wrapped around his queer identity to tell the story of how his learning of Swann’s story intersected with the Black Lives Matter movement and the killing of George Floyd.
What follows is a deftly written and exquisitely performed biography of a forgotten queer icon that proves how far civil rights have come, while also weaving in powerful and devastating stories from Kurkendall-Barret’s life, some of which reminded me of my own experiences as a person of colour in predominantly white spaces.
The Real Black Swann is a wonderful historical record of how far civil rights have come since Swann’s day, but also a powerful exploration of just how much work is still needed to achieve true equality.