Final Rating: 2/5
Edward Popil is the real name of Mrs. Kasha Davis, a drag queen who most people know from appearing on season seven of RuPaul’s Drag Race back in 2015. By now everyone knows the deal of the show. Drag icon RuPaul Charles hosts a competition to find America’s next drag superstar judging them on their ability to create new and exciting looks every week. It has permeated every facet of popular culture, as former contestants have lucrative careers touring the world in drag, making music, acting, hosting shows and more. Despite not knowing most of these performers real names, a lot of people know who Shengela, Trixie Mattel, Brooklyn Hites and Bianca Del Rio are. Mrs. Kasha Davis wanted to join that group as she saw several of her close friends like Pandora Boxx and Darienne Lake, hit new career highs and wanted to join in on the fun.
The problem was Popil was struggling to get cast on the show. Starting on season two, every year Ed sent in a tape, and every year he was being rejected. Perhaps it was because Ed was a bit older than the usual twenty-something contestants, perhaps it was because he didn’t fit the usual mold of most of the beauty pageant queens or maybe after sending in tape after tape he wanted it just a bit too much and the producers could tell. Whatever it was he finally got the call to be on the show, but sadly was one of the first handful of contestants eliminated and not given the chance to truly show his talents and make a lasting impact.
But Workhorse Queen, directed by Angela Washko, isn’t just about Popil’s time on RuPaul’s Drag Race, but about his journey about how drag gave him purpose and potentially almost took everything away from him too. Popil struggled with coming to terms as a gay man, and as such ended up marrying a woman and living with her for several years, mostly to appease his conservative family. When he finally was able to admit to himself and those around him, who he really was, things took a downturn. His parents disowned him and he was getting a divorce. He moved from Scranton to Rochester and through meeting other drag artists at gay bars in the city, he eventually became interested too in the art form.
As an ode to his mother, he created Mrs. Kasha Davis, a 1950’s style housewife whose catchphrase is “There’s always time for a cocktail”. Davis could be seen vacuuming her house, making dinner or spending too much time at the local liquor store debating between boxed wine or vodka. She made regular show appearances on bills with Pandora Boxx and Darienne Lake helping to boost an already vibrant upstate New York queer scene. We see Popil struggling with his confidence after seeing his friends get much bigger success after being early standouts on Drag Race, but his time would eventually come where he was one of the oldest contestants to ever grace the Werk Room.
After being on the show, bookings came fast and furious. The usual cast tour of North America, clubs all over wanting recent cast members, appearances at cons and more. Then as the next season started up and a new crop of queens were in the limelight, the bookings slowed, then stopped. Then the drinking increased. It got so bad at one point Ed was arrested for drunk driving and his husband of many years was ready to call it quits, luckily Ed realized the position he was in and quickly got himself sobered up. But then the question became, how can a performer whose tagline literally implies getting drunk still have a show? We witness how Mrs. Kasha Davis is trying to reinvent herself by staging a one woman show, regularly hosting drag story time for children and is able to turn darkness and pain into humour.
Overall the documentary does not do anything formally unique. We get plenty of talking head interviews with other drag stars like Bianca Del Rio, Tatianna, Darienne Lake, Pandora Boxx and others, along with behind the scenes footage from RuPaul’s Drag Race, old home movies, audition tapes and more. The film tells a great story about a man losing, finding, losing and once again finding himself in his art. Things get a bit tricky once you remember all documentaries have an angle, and this one seemed to be a promotional tool to raise awareness for Mrs. Kasha Davis to be a participant on the next All Stars season of Drag Race. You don’t doubt the sincerity of Ed or anyone else, but learning such details like when Mrs. Kasha Davis shows up all dolled up to attend the premiere of Hurricane Bianca: From Russia With Hate, a film she has a part in, to be a member of the creative Q&A following the film and isn’t invited on stage, it looks like her peers are shunning and ignoring Ed. I later learned Mrs. Kasha Davis was actually booked to be an MC and moderator for one of the screenings, something that is conveniently left out of the film.
Anyone that is a fan of Mrs. Kasha Davis, RuPaul’s Drag Race or drag culture in general will get plenty of enjoyment from the story as they learn more about the scene and some behind the scenes shade. That said, as a documentary it unfortunately is fairly run of the mill without any formal inventiveness.
Workhorse Queen was seen during the 2021 Vancouver Queer Film Festival. Thank you to the festival for the screener. Workhorse Queen does not have a North American release date at this time.
