Less than half an inch into the 90s – a decade of supermodels, sitcom and Viva Glam – Washington Post dubbed counter-cultural icon RuPaul as “The King of Queen”, hallmarking a monumental recognition of high camp. An artform of the centuries cemented its resurgence — and, this time, these new queens were not going anywhere.
For West Ender The Silver Stone, her journey to drag began not on the heel of landmark MAC campaigns and RuPaul’s Drag Race, but by the light of the Bat Signal. “Since I was a kid, I’ve made a point of watching Joel Schumacher’s 1997 film, Batman and Robin, at least once every year. The costuming, the script, Chris O’Donnell’s rubber nipples … It’s a religious experience. I think there’s something about the heightened sense of reality the film relies on that draws me in, and in the same way, what draws me to drag. (Drag) allows me to experience this place between the suspension of disbelief and the acknowledgement of absurdity — the audience knows underneath this farce, I’m a man in a lash, but they’re having a good time pretending to believe it.”
Underneath the fishnet headwear and mirror ball unitards, The Silver Stone lives a dual life as graphic designer, publisher and host James Goldsworthy. In November last year, Goldsworthy and collaborator Barbie Banks produced BLOOM Benefit for The Sideshow West End — an evening of drag and burlesque in support of our community affected by sexual and domestic violence, with all proceeds donated directly to DVConnect. For Goldsworthy, BLOOM was an opportunity to perform for the first time as someone other than The Silver Stone — himself. He describes his performance as “based in some of the complicated anger and shame I’ve worked through as a victim of sexual violence.”
Despite newly putting down roots in the 4101 after almost a decade on the Gold Coast, the man behind ‘The Stone’ is already setting his silver sights on invigorating West End with new entertainment offerings. “The one thing I would like to see in West End is an increase in LGBT+ produced events. While our community is supported by (and operates) some really fantastic businesses, West End lends itself to some fabulous left-of-field entertainment, and it’s the LGBT+ Power Rangers who are undeniably the best in show.” As Goldsworthy and The Silver Stone stand at the precipice of a new age of drag — alongside an ever-growing queendom — the inspirational legacies of RuPaul and those who have come before are not lost on the one-man dynamic duo. But if he’s just got one thing to say, “It’s not you better work – but you better take your time.”
“Everybody wants to slap a label on everything and everyone nowadays, but truthfully, you don’t owe anyone their comprehension of who you are. It’s okay to just be “figuring it out” — a lot of us still are. The most important thing you can do, is to just do you,” he said. “Rubber nipples optional but encouraged.”
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