New take on Shakespeare’s classic CATEGORY IS: MACBETH to play at Emerald Theatre
TuckShop, the UK’s only specialist production company devoted to all things drag, are taking a step in a new direction with CATEGORY IS: MACBETH, an all-drag hard-hitting, fierce, and gritty take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in its original text, which will play at the Emerald Theatre from 24 April - 28 May.
The all-star cast, directed by TuckShop’s Creative Director Chris Clegg, will include Ginger Johnson (Drag Race UK, Celebrity MasterChef) as Macbeth, Kyran Thrax (Drag Race UK) as Lady Macbeth, Yshee Black (JOY, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Late Night Lycett), Cyro (Moonin 80: Everybody is Welcome, Southbank Centre), Daniel Jacobs (Vinegar Strokes) (Death Drop, West End/UK tour) as The Three Witches, Anna Phylactic (Peter Pan, West End) as Banquo, Richard Energy (Antifa Cabaret: Slut it Down, Wellstot) as King Duncan, and Victoria Scone (Sleeping Beauty, West End) as Macduff.
Further cast and full creative team to be announced.
In the shadows of Soho’s backrooms and battered gay bars, ambition stalks the dancefloor.
CATEGORY IS: MACBETH reimagines one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedies in a city where being gay is an act of rebellion and drag is a form of survival. Starring a cast of ferocious drag performers, this is an all-new Macbeth born under strobe lights and police sirens, where prophecy comes whispered over eyeliner mirrors and power is seized in heels sharp enough to kill.
In a world where masculinity is policed, queerness is criminalised... the price of visibility is everything. Riots rage outside. Inside, the music of 80’s Britain - Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, Pet Shop Boys - pulses through the night. Paranoia spirals, loyalty fractures, and desire curdles into violence. Wigs slip. Crowns are stolen, and blood is impossible to wash out under club lighting.
Dark, defiant, and drenched in 80s synth, CATEGORY IS: MACBETH is a fabulous tragedy about power, persecution, and what it means to survive.
When the law says you don’t exist, how far would you go to rule the night?
TuckShop Creative Director and Founder Chris Clegg said: “My favourite thing about Shakespeare is that his work can transport, and has been transported, to just about every location and every era and has been taken on by some of the world’s greatest performers. Category Is: Macbeth will be no exception. Our bold new take on this bloody fight for the crown will find new meaning and entertain audiences like nothing else TuckShop has taken on before. To be working with not one, but TWO Drag Race winners who are both Shakespeare lovers is going to be a thrilling challenge. And, just as in Shakespeare’s time, cross dressing is truly on the cards across the whole cast. Drag is powerful, raw, and has been around since this play first existed, so marrying the world of 1980’s London, the drag scene, and the Scottish play makes so much sense, and I cannot wait for audiences to see what we’re cooking up.”
