What if Macbeth was a 13-year-old child star? Shakespeare meets stage mums and sparkles in riotous adaptation

By MacKenzie McCowan, PhD Candidate: English Literature, University of Sydney

When Bell Shakespeare’s Mackenzie begins, it is with the clap of thunder and flash of lightning you might expect from any adaptation of Macbeth. And yet, what follows is no ordinary production of the much beloved Scottish play.

The 2026 premiere of Mackenzie, written by Yve Blake and directed by Virginia Gay, keeps the outlines of Shakespeare’s play and transports it to a Y2K fever dream of child stardom, pink sparkles and stage mums.

But make no mistake, divas: the glitter doth not hide the dark…

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