The Troll Dolls

Up until the Troll Dolls arrived, Melbourne’s ‘drag scene’ was essentially high art female impersonation. The Troll Dolls with evident masculinity and perfectly recreated femininity changed what ‘drag’ was considered to be. Up until the explosion of RuPaul style drag in 2010, the Troll Dolls were the blueprint for Melbourne’s drag groups and shows.

Les Girls was the epitome of “you won’t believe they’re men”. An educational lesson for a society that was yet to understand the word ‘transgender’. The Pokeys cast, other than joint founder and host, Doug Lucas, were all transgendered and carried on the “beautiful boys” concept of drag shows, living and working as women. Terri Tinsel, for example, one of the Pokeys stars was employed by Myers; its first transsexual hiring. 

 The Troll Dolls were devoted fans of Pokeys and like many a wide-eyed aspiring showgirl in the Pokeys audience, they wanted to present their  version of drag. This vision was to open the doors for aspiring drag queens across Melbourne. 

 The Troll Dolls were happy to announce their masculinity; showing hairy armpits and muscled legs and backs. With costuming skills, hair and makeup at a highly professional level, they created a larger than life pastiche of Pokeys high camp and modern culture, all the while questioning the construction of gender. No longer did you need to be ‘womanly’ to be on stage.

One member, Coco (Peter McBean) was a highly talented costumer and wig stylist and he refined drag wig styles to perfection. His creations set the standard for drag wigs in Melbourne until he retired from the profession in 2012. 

 And so the Troll Dolls (Coco, Chanel, Kerrie and Timba) formed Melbourne’s first classic “Drag Show” as we generally know it today, It is a format that has ruled Melbourne’s drag scene since then, and it makes sense. A small group of performers fits in one taxi, means smaller staging budgets and the show also allows time for costume changes and for individual cast to shine. Most importantly a small cast means a small wages bill. Not that one would call their performing fees “wages”. 

 As Troll Dolls star began to rise, so did the legion of Pokeys, and now Troll Dolls fans, who wanted to be on stage and make their own shows. 

At the Duke Hotel in Abbotsford, their regular venue, Troll Dolls put on the first drag talent quest, “Search for a Tragedy”, with great success. Drag stages were popping up all over town and these ‘newbies’ were eager to occupy them. 

 In the late 1980’s Australia entered an economic downturn and soon Melbourne’s scene began to see what was called ‘Depression Drag’.

Performers were expected to provide their own costumes and wigs, working for a pittance as venues scrimped and saved to keep the doors open. The Troll Dolls were ground breaking and hailed as “drag royalty” in Melbourne, but finally venue budgets choked off their production options. By 1992, Troll Dolls was no more. 

 However technology was advancing, and video projection and film screens were appearing in venues. A performer from Adelaide, via Sydney, Skye Brooks, formed a new drag troupe that would turn drag into a pop culture event: New Wigs on the Block