If you’re anything like me, the words “The Lady Boys of Bangkok” probably conjure up images of outrageous costumes, pop music, camp comedy, and a great night out. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you’re in for a treat!
The touring phenomenon has been entertaining audiences across the UK for almost three decades, but this summer it is bringing its brand-new show Full Moon to Shepherd’s Bush Green, giving London audiences a rare chance to experience the company’s famous Sabai Pavilion without travelling to one of its many regular tour stops around the UK.
From 27 June to 12 July, The Lady Boys of Bangkok will take over Shepherd’s Bush Green with its purpose-built pink cabaret tent. The Sabai Pavilion has become a huge part of the company’s identity over the years, a touring cabaret venue designed to recreate the atmosphere of a Bangkok night out, complete with table seating, bars, music, and enough sequins to blind a small village.
The show first burst onto the Edinburgh Fringe in 1998 and has since become one of the UK’s most recognisable touring cabaret experiences, playing everywhere from major Fringe runs to theatre dates and tented residencies across the country. While the production did make a brief appearance at London’s Queen’s Theatre in 1998, this Shepherd’s Bush run marks the first time the full Sabai Pavilion experience has appeared in London.
According to the company, Full Moon is set during a vibrant Thai beach party, where a night of celebration spirals into chaos after a magic trick goes disastrously wrong. The show promises recurring characters, comedy, pop hits, visual storytelling, and the kind of fast-paced theatrical madness that sounds like it was designed for anyone who thinks subtlety is overrated.
The production features nine performers, four male dancers, a drag host, and around 400 costumes. That alone feels worth mentioning twice. Four hundred costumes. I struggle to organise one decent outfit for a press night!
As a bisexual man who often covers drag, cabaret, and all kinds of queer events, I was particularly interested in the show’s relationship with the word “ladyboy”. In the UK, the term can sometimes feel uncomfortable or offensive, but I’ve now learned that in Thailand it sits within a special cultural and performance context, often connected to kathoey identity – a Thai term often used to describe transgender women, feminine-presenting people assigned male at birth, or a broader third-gender identity – and cabaret traditions. That doesn’t mean the word lands the same way for everyone, of course, but it does make the conversation more nuanced than simply whether the term is acceptable or unacceptable.
When I asked the creative team behind the show about the use of ‘ladyboys’, they told me: “In Thailand, the term ‘ladyboy’ has long been widely used and understood within popular culture and entertainment, particularly in relation to performers and the cabaret tradition that inspired this show. Within the world of The Lady Boys of Bangkok, it has always represented glamour, performance, individuality, and celebration.”
They also point out that when the show first began touring in 1998, conversations around gender identity and self-expression were far less visible in mainstream entertainment than they are today, and that many audience members were being introduced to these performers and styles of expression for the first time.
That feels important. The show may be built around glitter, comedy and escapism, but it also arrives with a history. For more than 25 years, The Lady Boys of Bangkok has been putting Thai cabaret performers in front of mainstream UK audiences, long before gender diversity was being discussed with anything like the visibility it has now.
Ultimately, though, The Lady Boys of Bangkok is first and foremost focused on entertainment rather than making a political statement. The aim is simple: to give audiences a chance to switch off for a couple of hours, enjoy the spectacle, and have fun. As performer and company manager Oak (Taweesak Samdangrit) puts it: “Our goal every night is simple – we want people to forget about their worries, laugh, dance in their seats and leave with a big smile on their faces.”
Frankly, in 2026, that sounds rather appealing.
Whether you’re a long-time fan, curious about Thailand’s famous cabaret tradition, or simply looking for a flamboyant night out involving glitter, pop music, and spectacular costumes, Full Moon looks set to deliver exactly what its audiences have loved for nearly thirty years: joy, escapism, and a whole lot of sparkle.
The Lady Boys of Bangkok: Full Moon runs at the Sabai Pavilion, Shepherd’s Bush Green, from 27 June to 12 July 2026.
Book tickets at ladyboysofbangkok.co.uk
Words by Nick Barr
Photography by The Lady Boys of Bangkok
