A group of Canadian schoolchildren were forced to flee a theater performance about Indigenous rights after a drag queen began gyrating and 'putting their boobs in kids' faces.' Campbell Collegiate students in Saskatchewan were pulled out midway through a performance at the Globe Theatre this week after the 'production reached levels of maturity beyond expectations,' according to teachers.
The complaints centered around the antics of drag queen Nick Miami Benz, who was performing in a rendition of Little Red Warrior & His Lawyer, a courtroom drama about an Indigenous person who fights for their ancestral land. Benz was playing an attorney's wife named Desmona in the production, which was rated suitable for audiences aged 14 and up. But footage of the play showed Benz, who uses they/them pronouns, flaunting their assets in fishnet tights, thigh-high boots and a see-through corset. Students were then seen filing out of the theater as Benz continued, while others in the audience laughed and cheered.
In one scene, a judge was seen bending over and appearing to smell Benz's behind, leading them to leap into the air and start jumping up and down in front of the crowd of young viewers. Teachers eventually directed their class to leave and sent parents a message afterward confirming they used 'professional discretion' to leave early and planned to complain to the theater.
Students appeared to be equally perturbed, with a Snapchat video of the performance apparently taken by a student captioned: 'Guys wtf is this play. NO WAY THIS IS A SCHOOL TRIP.' In its statement, the school explained that it runs biannual visits to the theater each year and has had 'great experiences in the past.' The school said it felt the play's focus on Indigenous rights 'aligned with the curriculum' it teaches and said it was billed as a 'satirical farce meets romantic comedy.'
'The materials provided by The Globe stated the production was rated for students aged 14+, due to mature content,' Campbell Collegiate said. 'As the play progressed, the production reached levels of maturity beyond expectations, and we made the decision to leave early based on our professional discretion.' The school added that it would be reaching out to the Globe Theatre 'to provide feedback and discuss the age rating' associated with Benz's performance.
In a letter sent to parents before the show, Little Red Warrior & His Lawyer was described as a 'sharp, subversive fable' about Indigenous culture in Canada, promoted as being 'not afraid to ask who really owns the land.' 'In this courtroom comedy, the last member of the Little Red Warrior First Nation tribe isn't here to play by the rules,' the description of the show read. 'Red moves in with his court-appointed lawyer Larry and Larry's wife Desmona, who soon starts seeing Red in a whole new light.'
Footage of Benz's performance went viral across social media, as many viewers slated the 'X-rated' theater production and praised the school for removing the students early. One person who said they attended the show said they were 'dismayed at how the writer demeaned females' with Benz's character. 'I'm glad the teachers took control and removed the students,' they wrote. 'The drag queen had nothing to do with the actual story, but seemed to be there for further humiliation.'
One critic wrote on X: 'Good for the Campbell staff for reacting instead of just sitting there and letting the kids get visually assaulted by this.' Another said they found the performance mocked Indigenous people, writing: 'This is their representation of the dignified First People? Disgraceful.' 'How was this rated +14 exactly?' questioned another. 'The Globe Theater can put on whatever shows they want, but they need to be appropriately rated.'
