Mother, Maiden and Crone ★★★★☆

Mother, Maiden and Crone ★★★★

Macbeth’s Witches Get a Queer, Camp and Chaotic Makeover

What if the three witches from Macbeth were reimagined as a bimbo shot boy, a klepto DJ and a drag queen? That wonderfully ridiculous premise is the starting point for Mother, Maiden and Crone, a clever piece of LGBTQIA+ theatre that takes Shakespeare, throws it into a gay club and gives the whole thing a thoroughly contemporary queer makeover.

This retelling of Macbeth from the witches’ perspective combines drag, physical comedy and new writing with a script steeped in millennial gay culture. It is camp, neurodivergent-positive and proudly queer, with plenty of knowing references for an LGBTQIA+ audience.

One of the smartest choices is setting part of the action around a hen party invading a gay bar. Anyone queer who has witnessed a hen party descend upon their local gay venue will immediately recognise the particular brand of chaos being skewered here. The bride is brilliantly portrayed: increasingly unhinged, painfully familiar and almost frighteningly realistic. I feel like I have met this woman before. More than once.

There is something refreshing about seeing theatre so comfortable speaking directly to its queer audience. Even referring to the heteronormative masses as “breeders” lands perfectly within the heightened world the production creates.

Although this is a local production with plenty of local gags, they don’t become a barrier for an international Fringe audience. The humour travels well, and the larger ensemble is consistently strong.

Technically, it is also impressively put together. The blocking is strong, the lighting design complements the camp theatricality, and the physical comedy is used effectively rather than simply thrown in for another gag. The writing understands exactly the world it is parodying while still creating something new from the bones of Macbeth.

There are some areas still needing polish. At the very beginning, the sound is overly bass-heavy, causing the speakers to distort slightly and creating an unnecessary distraction. A few other elements could be tightened, but these are refinements rather than fundamental problems.

Mother, Maiden and Crone is clever, queer-positive new theatre with a distinctive voice. It’s Shakespeare dragged through millennial gay culture, complete with DJs, drag queens, hen-party horror and enough camp chaos to make the original witches wonder what the hell happened.

Add a few more sprinkles of theatrical fairy dust and there is a five-star show hiding in here.

★★★★