Savage, a play about Paul O'Grady's rise to national treasure, to premiere in February

A new play exploring the life and career of Paul O'Grady, titled 'Savage', is set to premiere at Curve Theatre in Leicester in February 2026. Developed with the support of O'Grady's widower, Andre Portasio, the production will then head to London's West End.

Danny Beard, winner of 'RuPaul's Drag Race UK', will portray O'Grady. Beard described telling his hero's story as 'terrifying', noting that O'Grady was uniquely loved across all age ranges and communities, truly a national treasure.

Playwright Jonathan Harvey, known for 'Beautiful Thing' and 'Gimme Gimme Gimme', said he wanted to show younger generations whose shoulders today's drag queens are standing on. The play focuses on the years before O'Grady became a mainstream TV fixture, including his performances during the AIDS crisis, when he openly mocked police raiding gay venues. During one raid, O'Grady initially mistook the police for strippers before being briefly arrested.

The play also honours O'Grady's courage offstage: he regularly visited men dying of AIDS-related illnesses in hospital, sharing cigarettes in solidarity. Harvey revealed he sent O'Grady the first draft just months before his death, and O'Grady was very happy with it, noting that nearly every line of dialogue is taken from O'Grady's own autobiographies.

'Savage' concludes with O'Grady retiring the Lily Savage persona in 2005, claiming she traded her favourite drink, Blue Nun, for life in a French convent. However, as the script hints, the character's disappearance did little to slow O'Grady's career ascent. By his death at age 67, he was one of the UK's most recognisable broadcasters.