Dockyard Doris
Dockyard Doris was the drag persona of Colin Devereaux (c. 1951 – 2001), a British drag performer and cabaret artist who performed for approximately thirty years. Rooted in the traditions of the music hall, he was described as "an outrageous performer with a wide repertoire" who was nonetheless "a quiet and sensitive man" offstage, and was deeply knowledgeable about the history of British variety entertainment.
Career
Devereaux began performing in the early 1980s at the Lord Hood pub in London. Through the 1990s he became a regular performer at the Brick Lane Music Hall, the venue established by Vincent Hayes which relocated to a Victorian church in Canning Town and operated as the only fully functioning music hall venue in the United Kingdom. His performances combined drag with the comic and variety traditions of the music hall, a form he viewed himself as part of and actively sought to preserve.
He performed across London, Brighton, Portsmouth, and Southampton, and appeared in pantomime. His final major public performance was at Brighton Pride in 2001.
Death
Colin Devereaux died in 2001 at the age of approximately 50, following a prolonged battle with cancer.