“Hedwig’s anger is righteously renewed.”
Kate Stratford
Venue: Carriageworks, Redfern
Sydney
Dates: 17th July 2025
In an abandoned mall (so Carriageworks!) turned performance space, the grungy rock band The Angry Inch’s singer and frontwoman, Hedwig (victim of a botched sex-change operation), describes how the political chaos of the Berlin Wall era parallels the chaos of her own journey to self-discovery. With music and lyrics by Stephen Trask and a book by John Cameron Mitchell, we follow Hedwig Robinson, a genderqueer East German a singer as she uses the concert to expose her ex-lover, the megastar pop rocker Tommy Gnosis, as a fraud who stole all of her songs and career opportunities. Soon, the concert begins to morph, Brechtian style, to something akin to a story-teller’s chair, a cabaret, and stand-up comedy.
The story draws on Mitchell’s life as the child of an American major general who once commanded the U.S. sector of occupied West Berlin. The fall of The Wall is now an historic event and the political and emotional chaos and trauma of that time now seems a distant memory. But trauma never leaves us and Hedwig and The Angry Inch has lots of it. From childhood sexual abuse, to domestic abuse, a botched sex-change operation, betrayal and abandonment the show’s rock ‘n’ roll frames the profound impact of trauma on identity and love. This is how the show works, enduring through trauma to resolution.
The plus one and I saw the first preview in Bay 18 at the Carriageworks and the space was packed with a joyous crowd. Hedwig is something of a cult phenomenon – the audience eagerly anticipated and participated in every moment. Having transferred from Melbourne (the show is on tour), the cast and crew were familiar with the set and had only to adjust to the vagaries of the new space. Set designer Jeremy Allen has placed the band inside a pit, surrounded by a curved walkway and spiral staircase which allows Hedwig to strut. Geoff Cobham’s lighting design manages to balance the demands of a rock ‘n’ roll concert and the intimate moments Hedwig shares. Loved Nicol & Ford’s double (quadruple?) denim costumes referencing 1980s’s grunge!
Clad in one of these denim masterpieces with a Wagnerian wig of blonde hair, Seann Miley Moore is a commanding figure in the lead role. Moore’s Hedwig is just a little vicious and very passionate. And at times, quite mean. But as my plus one observed, hurt people hurt people. Hedwig is outrageous and has no compunction in saying everything which may come to mind. Even in the crowd who seem to know the show well, “Jesus died for our sins … so did Hitler” still draws a reaction. Moore relishes all the uncomfortable moments.
In the background for much of the show is Yitzhak, Hedwig’s husband, delivered by Adam Noviello. Yitzhak’s unhappy presence elicits empathy as Hedwig denies Yitzak the access to identity that they demand for themself. Noviello’s presence, even in the shadows is somehow tragic. It may have been written as a small role, but Noviello’s loitering at the edges of the stage becomes a powerful reminder of the ripple effect of trauma. As Hedwig taunts Yitzak, even with a suggestion that a double act featuring a German and a Jew would be something new, Noviello’s Yitzak responds with disgust and nails it with “The Long Grift”.
The performance began a little chaotically (ah, the uncertainties of a preview!) but settled in and was certainly strongest in the second half. As a show, it may have been evolving for over thirty years but one cannot but wonder how it fares in the mood of trans backlash across the world, especially in America which seems intent on stripping human rights. Where once we had been finally moving to inclusion of all people it seems marginalised groups have to struggle and fight all over again. Hegwig and The Angry Inch is going to have another chapter to add to the story. The journey of the transgendered involves abuse in many forms. Leaving, I found I was feeling indignant at the arrogance of those who deny identity to others whilst insisting on their own.
Hedwig’s anger is righteously renewed.
The band, under musical direction from Victoria Falconer, is exceptional, btw.
Photos Shane Reid and Eugene Hyland
Kate Stratford, Theatre Now
