Adelaide Fringe 2020 review: Season of the Witch
Season of the Witch is a chance for Wundes to captivate audiences with the drag queen’s first full-blown solo show.
Cabaret
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Season of the Witch
Cabaret / Theatre / SA
Rating: *****
Upstairs, Mary’s Poppin
Until March 7
The giant disco ball hanging above the stage at LGBTQI+ venue Mary’s Poppin has bounced light off many-a fabulous drag queen.
Wundes is one of them.
For the artist’s first full-blown solo show Wundes emerges, dressed in black, with bright red puffs of tulle framing their face and wrists like giant, glamorous poppies.
This is no lip-synched show.
Wundes has an impressive set of pipes and uses them.
When Judy Garland’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow fills the air, it is gobsmacking.
Wundes’ obsession with witches is demonstrated by a screened montage of iconic misunderstood misfits across the ages, from Wizard of Oz to Charmed.
They are joined by home video footage of school-aged Wundes’ stage debut dressed as a witch and looking for the limelight.
In costumes RuPaul would approve of, Wundes performs classics by the likes of Garland, Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie and Lana Del Rey.
The superstars’ vulnerability and power is portrayed with such moving sensitivity, it is as though hearing them for the first time.
While there’s a dark undercurrent to the show, it’s an uplifting reminder that we all have the power of transformation and to emerge from the shadows and shine.
