Hedwig & the Angry Inch (Carriageworks) ★★★★★

Text by John Cameron Mitchell. Music & Lyrics by Stephen Trask. Carriageworks. From 17 Jul, 2025.

Seann Miley Moore at first seems a completely incongruous casting choice to play a blonde, blue-eyed German boy who becomes the indie musician Hedwig. But once he hits the stage, Moore transcends the material by sheer force of talent. Hedwig needs cabaret/rockstar energy, and Moore delivers.

This production (by co-directors Shane Anthony and Dino Dimitriadis) throws out any attempt at literal realism. It is both 1994 and 2025 simultaneously – it’s timey-wimey, as Doctor Who might say – letting Moore riff on modern events and play to the crowd. Rather than punk rock leathers, the cast are clad in patchwork denim (designed by Nicol & Ford) that somehow loops from 60s bohemia to 90s Gap-commercial to 2020s chic all at once. Hedwig’s “dreamcoat-of-many-weaves” is a wonder to behold all on its own.

Hedwig & the Angry Inch has always resonated by being both a rock gig and a surprisingly emotional piece of storytelling. Hedwig is a survivor, repeatedly abandoned but always getting back up and forging a new life from the ashes. There is a deep well of sadness and rage fuelling the narrative, which is translated through rockstar verve.

Just as Hedwig has been abused, she too becomes the abuser to her second husband, Yitzhak (a show-stealing performance by Adam Noviello, with Amy Hack as understudy), whom she constantly suppresses. It is both harshly comedic and gives this rock/cabaret a story arc you can invest in.

Jeremy Allen’s set design, a circular riser with a staircase, is small but efficient. I would have loved something that took advantage of the expansive Carriageworks space, but as a touring show (which has already been through Adelaide and Melbourne) it needs to be adaptable. Thankfully, the lighting by Geoff Cobham fills the space. Rather than a basement gig, this Hedwig leans into the industrial space with cabaret flair.

As creators John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask (Trask attended the Sydney premiere and performed at the encore) have previously stated, Hedwig is not a trans character but a young gay femme boy who is coerced into gender reassignment surgery by an abusive lover. In response, the stage persona of Hedwig is in part a drag performance and an exploration of gender beyond the binary, or even the trinary – giving the role a rich liminal space to exist in, one in which Moore brings a joyous, gender-fuck energy.

The result is a juicy, overflowing performance from Seann Miley Moore that channels itself through the indie rock anthems, and which held me in rapt attention for 90 minutes. This Hedwig & the Angry Inch is not just theatre, it is an event. One you definitely don’t want to miss.