For Theo Kutsko (he/they), also known as the drag artist Theocracy, their introduction to theater and drag was the same: they watched a production of the rock musical Rent and later played Toby in a local production of Sweeney Todd.
“Wicked was good, but Rent was something else. I think it was because it had gay people in it,” he said with a laugh.
From there, he got into more musicals with queer themes, like Falsettos, and later Hedwig and the Angry Inch. But this love of theater was more than a hobby; it was something they wanted to study.
Theo moved to Pittsburgh to study theater arts at Point Park University in downtown Pittsburgh from their hometown in Santa Fe. They created their drag persona Theocracy while in a production of Kinky Boots in the drag ensemble at 19 years old.
“It was so fun, and then I had to wait until I was 21 [to perform onstage in drag again],” Theo said. “I would love for there to be more [queer performing spaces for people under 21] because I would have loved that.”
As soon as Theo turned 21 in March 2025, he wasted no time in bringing Theocracy to the nightlife open stages in the gay bar circuit, even winning Ptown’s Mom’s Basement competition in June that year.
“One of the things I love about drag is I had to do everything myself,” he said. “Drag got me through some theater burnout my junior year.”
By the time their senior year came around in 2026, there was no shortage of ideas for Theo to pursue for his capstone project, including a Breaking Bad musical. With the challenges of time constraints and finding a cast and creative team, Theo turned his attention to another idea that was brewing: a one-man show about “a situationship from hell,” complete with his ex portrayed as a hand puppet.
With guidance from professor DT Burns, Theo concocted a 90-minute one-man show, complete with poetry, drag, live singing, live piano playing, video footage, puppets, masks, costume and wig changes, and Godzilla. One of the many inspirations behind “IGOR PARADIGM: A One-Man Spiral, Live in Concert” included Tyler The Creator’s album Igor, which explores themes of unrequited love and obsession and self-identity.
“Let’s drag it,” Theo proclaimed, and got to work.
The setting for the final presentation of “IGOR” was rather unconventional in comparison to most settings for theater capstone projects. By housing it in Ptown Bar on Baum Boulevard, Theo was able to mix the art forms of drag and theater in the way they wanted—with lights, TV screens, a sound system, and a stage.
“Drag and theater are so similar, and there are so many people who are in both worlds but separately. There needs to be more of that bridge,” he said. “Hedwig and the Angry Inch toured around at different dive bars [in its early days]. I think it’s so cool to do theater in uncommon spaces and to merge drag and theater, because they both should exist in each other.”
While the show is billed as a “One-Man Breakdown,” this stage production was not made alone. Drag artist Dee VaQuaria played the role of Beth, and playwright and performer Flee Bite played Victor. Other collaborators included voiceover roles done by his drag mother Andi Whorehol and JoeMyGosh as the voice of God, with a hand puppet by Madyn Harris, and featuring poetry from Kira Hook.
On May 1, 2026, Theocracy explored that situationship from hell on Ptown’s stage through their love of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Tyler The Creator’s work, Euphoria, Brokeback Mountain, Frankenstein, as well asfootage from his personal Snapchat and his 3 AM notes app poetry.
The audience consisted of people from the Pittsburgh drag scene and Point Park professors and classmates.
“My voice teacher bought us all Jell-O shots,” Theo recalled with a laugh.
They got an “A,” by the way.
What’s next for “Igor?” Well, if you missed it at Ptown in May, you have a few more opportunities to support it in the coming weeks, including a fundraiser with snippets from the show on August 12 at the Soft Spot and a GoFundMe to make the show bigger and better in anticipation of a weekend run September 4 and 5 at Little Giant Studios in Allentown in collaboration with Sour Flower Events, who Theo has worked with through playing Moritz in their “Queering of Spring Awakening” production this past spring.
In addition to reworking the material (now with more hyperfixations!) and revisiting the ending, he’s hoping to make the show more accessible for people who aren’t old enough to enter the queer bars in the city, and to show trans and gender non-conforming people that theater is and should be a space for them, too.
“Being a transmasc person in theater, you don’t often see yourself on a bigger scale. I want to fight to be that representation, because I don’t really conform to those binaries, and I do a lot of things myself,” Theo said. “I want to be that person for a new artist to see.”
His message to any audience member who sees this show is “Be weird, and be queer. Don’t conform to whatever shitty regional theater wants you to be. And if you’re friends with a long-haired filmmaker, proceed with caution.”
You might just get enough material to make a 90-minute show.