Starting out in a sharp suit and finishing up as a painted, striped zebra, Brook Tate is quite a guy with a backstory to match. He was drummed out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses for being gay, and now he’s a hard-rocking star, front and centre of his own cabaret, with a hint of his idol Barbra Streisand in the mix. 

While Tate doesn’t favour the power ballads or disco rock of his heroine, this concept gig does offer multiple costume changes and a giant sequined high-heeled shoe extravaganza. Backed with a full and fabulous onstage band, including a gigantic (if not Biblical) whale on drums, Tate retells the story of exactly how he got from there to here; his struggle to accept himself for who he is, and how he learned to love rather than conceal the birthmark on his forehead. 

Self-acceptance can only be a good thing, and Birthmarked is an upbeat celebration of one man’s ongoing struggle to be himself in a sometimes repressive society. If there’s a flaw with director Sally Cookson’s show, it’s that a rock band on stage always has an uphill struggle to generate atmosphere when they start cold with an audience. Tate’s plentiful anecdotes sometimes interrupt his own songs, stifling the development of his narrative just when the music is beginning to flow. But overall, Birthmarked is a fun and entertaining show that revels in its own outrageousness, ably connecting the life Tate rejected to who he is in the glittery, spectacular now. 

Birthmarked, Assembly Rooms, until 27 August, 7.15pm