The inimitable Luke Bayer leads the one-man show DIVA: Live From Hell by playwright Nora Brigid Monahan, with music and lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen. Delivering a performance brimming with ferocious camp, musical finesse, and outrageous comedy chops, Bayer’s turn in DIVA is an unabashed highlight of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
As President of the Ronald Reagan High School Drama Club, Desmond Channing (Bayer) rules with an iron fist. However, the spotlight-hungry young performer finds his status challenged by the arrival of new student Evan Harris from a New York performing arts school. Desmond reacts with lethal force, resulting in him being trapped in the Seventh Circle, Hell’s most squalid cabaret venue.
Bayer delivers a tour de force—a compelling comic presence as he captures Desmond’s plucky yet vindictive nature before spiralling into a blood-hungry rage with desperate vigour. Desmond’s biting put-downs, acerbic sass, and Kristin Chenoweth-inspired delivery sizzle with captivating energy, providing undeniable laugh-out-loud humour laced with a sharp tinge of unhinged darkness. Bayer’s versatility is unparalleled—portraying the lisp-plagued Allie Hewitt, Desmond’s endearing best friend, the swaggering 2000s Timberlake-inspired Evan Harris, and the bumbling supply teacher-cum-stage director Mr Dallas. Bayer seamlessly flips between characters, embodying each with distinctive vocals, mannerisms, and finesse.
Setting the narrative in a traditional US high school allows Monahan’s structure to play with conventional teen drama norms—injecting them with a macabre darkness that permeates the unfolding events with increasing toxicity. Traditional high school tropes—the nerdy Allie, the jockish Evan, and the pretty It-girl Sarah—all step into Desmond’s twisted ego-centric playground. Staged with a set of lockers and a live band on stage, who do not even escape Desmond’s biting put-downs, DIVA fully transports us to the woozy Americana of a US high school. This live band supports Bayer in delivering musical numbers with polished professionalism, such as the jazzy opening “Live From Hell!” which showcases his skill as a musical theatre performer.
Bayer shines as a responsive presence —Desmond’s interactions with audience members are a real highlight. In this performance, a red-haired woman is questioned on her decision to dye her hair and is labelled as Sharon Osbourne throughout the evening. Even when Bayer has issues with his mic pack during the performance, he turns these into standout comic moments.
In DIVA: Live From Hell, Luke Bayer delivers a masterful performance that seamlessly blends ferocious camp, sharp wit, and impressive musical talent, making it a standout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His portrayal of Desmond Channing is both hilarious and darkly captivating as he navigates the twisted dynamics of high school drama with biting energy and macabre cunning.
Tickets to DIVA: Live From Hell are available now.