'Drama Queen' is Abla Fahita's wild and heartfelt debut on Netflix

The show featuring the popular puppet character was released on Netflix on Monday

'Drama Queen' is comedy puppet Abla Fahita's heartwarming and hilarious debut on Netflix. Netflix 

Abla Fahita is back. With rollers in her hair and her conceit as gaudy as ever, the Egyptian comedy puppet has made her Netflix debut in a dramedy series that is as bonkers and razor-edged as it is heartfelt.

Warning: spoilers ahead. 

The plot of Abla Fahita's 'Drama Queen'

Dubbed Drama Queen, the six-episode series – which launched on Monday – is available to watch in English, Hindi and Arabic. The show opens up with Fahita at the peak of her fame. The puppet character is the star of a sold-out musical called Isis and a Thousand Visitors, in which she plays the Egyptian goddess warding off suitors such as Don Juan and King Shahryar.

The musical within the show does a lot more than provide an entertaining opening. It makes it clear from the onset that Fahita has come a long way since her online debut in 2010. Her celebrity soaring, it seems that nothing can bring her down from the apex of Cairo’s pop culture.

That is, until she opens her robe on stage at the climax of the musical only to realise she forgot to don the sequin-studded dress she was supposed to wear for the final act. Yes, the wardrobe malfunction leaves the puppet standing in full but fuzzy nudity in front of an audience of hundreds. Smartphones are brandished, pictures are taken and within seconds, Fahita's career comes crashing down.

We then join Fahita and her two children at their Cairo apartment three months after the scandalous incident. Fahita’s opulent lifestyle and lack of income has left the family scraping by, barely able to eat anything besides “egg soup”.

Her reputation may be in ruins, but Fahita’s pride is anything but bruised. She still walks around the apartment in a glamorous feathery cloak and satin dress, hurls acerbic remarks at her daughter, Caro, who seems to have a sober grip on the grim situation they are in, and coddles her baby son, Boudi.

Her phone, meanwhile, ceaselessly rings with calls from Fayez Mango, a cabaret owner with an unsettling infatuation for the puppet star. Finally, when the apartment lights go out, Caro convinces her mother to pick up his call and meet him in the hope they may get a hot meal from Mango.

The three meet Mango at his cabaret, Kharabeesh. As the family literally inhale their dinner of kebabs and ribs, Mango proposes to make a film with Fahita, one that would, without a doubt, help reprise her stardom.

He pushes her to sign a contract she doesn't read before realising that it stipulates she must perform at the cabaret once a week. Understandably enraged, Fahita becomes embroiled in a heated argument with Mango. The children are escorted out of the room as the argument gets more explosive.

It may seem like we've covered a lot but all this happens in the first 10 minutes of the show. We don't want to give away more but from then on, things only go downhill for the beloved puppet as she soon finds herself accused of a crime she didn't commit and goes on the run with nothing but a Chanel dress and Louboutin heels. A street florist, who happens to be an adoring fan of Fahita's, offers the diva shelter in the rundown bus that she has converted into a home. Fahita then begins to plan how to retrieve her children, who were left behind at the cabaret, and clear her name.

So what's the verdict?

Drama Queen is the most impressively lavish production that the satirical puppet has been in so far.

The writing feels more polished than past efforts. The plot is, in essence, a crime thriller, while retaining the edgy fearless humour that Fahita has become famous for.

But, perhaps more than that, it is a story of a mother trying to reunite with her children and that's what puts it ahead of her past works, which prioritised jagged comedy over a personable story.

Don't get us wrong, there's still plenty to snicker at in Drama Queen, but it's not a roaring comedy. It won't leave you in stitches, however there are enough funny gems in the show to charm you all the way through until its thoroughly satisfying end.