Drag as art: The story of Miss Ginger Soulless

For Paulee M. Mekdeci, Miss Ginger Soulless did not emerge fully formed beneath stage lights. The Keene-area drag performer, host and entertainer traces the beginnings of a nearly three-decade relationship with drag to community theater — and an emergency that forced an 18-year-old Mekdeci into a role they had not expected to play. A female lead dropped out of a sold-out production the night before a performance. Rather than cancel the show, Mekdeci volunteered. "I told the director I could do it and he let me," Mekdeci recalled. "I went home, pulled an all nighter and learned the lines and the next day the theater troupe put me in drag." More drag roles followed in community theater, along with work for a traveling murder mystery company, where Mekdeci played larger-than-life characters. Two drag personas came before Miss Ginger Soulless. But the character that would become central to Mekdeci's artistic life grew, fittingly, out of community involvement. Already active with charities and nonprofit organizations, Mekdeci wondered whether participating in drag might help raise more money for The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont's Walk for Life. It worked — and Miss Ginger was born. "I did and Miss Ginger was off and running," Mekdeci said. "Out of my 28 years doing drag and theater I've been playing her for almost a decade and a half of it." That history has developed into something larger than a stage persona. Miss Ginger has become an outlet for acting, fashion, gender expression, storytelling and community building throughout the Monadnock Region and neighboring southern Vermont and western Massachusetts. Mekdeci describes Miss Ginger as "a chameleon." "As Miss Ginger, I share a lot of my life experience. There are stories that are plucked directly from my life as Paulee," Mekdeci said. There is also a distinction between performer and persona. "My personality as Miss Ginger is definitely different from Paulee, as Miss Ginger is an extrovert and Paulee is an introvert," Mekdeci said. For Mekdeci, who identifies as non-binary, drag has also provided a particularly meaningful space for exploring gender. "It is fulfilling to be able to express myself and my own gender identity, but also lean into the feminine and the masculine," Mekdeci said. That same intersection of identity, performance and community is at the heart of Madame Sherri's, the restaurant and cabaret at 82 Main St. in downtown Keene.The venue describes itself as a restaurant and cabaret offering live music, comedy, burlesque and other entertainment. Mekdeci's connection to the space, however, began well before its doors opened. A founding board member and vice president of Keene Pride, Mekdeci later helped create the traveling entertainment company Yours Queerly Entertainment with collaborators they met through the organization. "We put on shows and events around New England," Mekdeci said. "We always wanted to open a space someday." That opportunity arrived sooner than expected. Mekdeci went on to open Madame Sherri's with two of the other's involved — their husband Patrick Brown and Keene Pride creator Adam Toepher — creating a space for that art was only part of the goal. "It was also important to the three of us to create a safe space where the queer community could come and be themselves," Mekdeci said. Mekdeci describes Madame Sherri's as Keene's first openly queer restaurant, bar and cabaret, but stresses that its audience is not limited to the LGBTQ+ community. Families can visit before 9 p.m., after which the venue becomes 21-plus. Mekdeci has watched the broader environment for drag change substantially. They remember a time when finding a Keene-based drag performer could be difficult. "Just five years ago, it was nearly impossible to book a drag queen in Keene that wasn't from another place, a lot of the time over an hour away," Mekdeci said. "Now, we've got a thriving and growing drag community that I helped start, build, and cultivate. That is something I am incredibly proud of." Performing in a smaller city brings its own artistic challenge. Unlike a large metropolitan drag scene with a steady flow of new spectators, Mekdeci said local performers frequently see familiar faces. That means Miss Ginger cannot simply return to the same material. "I have to work really hard to come up with new looks, new numbers, jokes, host moments, and completely new concepts constantly to keep people interested," Mekdeci said what remains consistent is the desire to make an audience feel something. "I hope that I can make people feel something… Sad, happy, seen. I am sharing my heart and feelings on the stage." One performance in particular brought those ideas together. Mekdeci created a burlesque drag performance set to Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" The number explores the divide and relationship between Paulee and Ginger. "It was an incredibly cathartic exploration of how I feel sometimes, like what happens when Ginger comes off and all that's left is Paulee," Mekdeci said. Mekdeci said the performance contributed to receiving an Ewing Arts Award for performance art and provided another milestone: becoming the first drag and burlesque performer to receive the honor. "I also still get teary eyed every time someone shares a memory about a performance and what it meant to them," Mekdeci said. "There are just so many amazing interactions that have brought such joy to me." That visibility has also come with hostility. Mekdeci said one of the most persistent misconceptions about drag is that it is inherently intended for adults. They distinguish between family-friendly programming such as drag story hours and performances designed for older audiences, comparing it to films intended for different age groups. "We are entertainers and we know time and place," Mekdeci said. Mekdeci said they have received death threats related to drag story times at public libraries and encountered protests over performances. "Drag performers and queer artists have always had a different standard placed on us," Mekdeci said. For someone encountering drag for the first time, Mekdeci hopes a performance can reveal the work and meaning beneath the makeup, clothing and spectacle. "I hope they realize how hard we work and that what we do is more than just playing dress up," Mekdeci said. "It's hard work, it's a passion, it's gender expression, for some of us it's survival, and it is art."