You don’t have know Suzuki from Kabuki or Shakespeare from Shinola to enjoy, appreciate and marvel to enjoy Ninefold’s production of WYRD: The Season of the Witch.

Taking its cue from Shakespeare’s Scottish play, an embellishment of witches drives this high combustion production that conjoins selections from the Bard’s text with ballads from Roy Orbison and Gene Pitney.

Working for the Man becomes thematic with regicide and Town Without Pity becomes a national anthem.

Director Shy Magsalin drills a disciplined and focused ensemble in a riveting re-imagining of a tale that is in our moral muscle memory and flexes those muscles with powerful imagery and stagecraft.

Associated with superstition in the theatre, the play that dare not speak its name and therefore spoken of as “the Scottish play” by thespians, neither the original name of the source material nor the names of the two lead characters are named in this show, quite aptly, as superstition and the supernatural play such a significant part in this presentation.

The “lead” character here is Our Lady, played in Bodecian warrior mode by Victoria Greiner. She is the Thane of Glamis, the Thane of Cawdor and Queen thereafter as prophesied by the Wyrd.

Her bestie is fellow warrior woman, Banquo, bewitchingly played by Jessica Saras.

The riches are in the witches, Aslam Abdus-samad, Paul Musumeci, and their hackle raising, cackle braying leader, Erica Josephine Brennan.

Also intricate to the ensemble is Tabitha Woo, Shane Russon, Melissa Hume and Gideon Payten-Griffiths.

Adding to the magic is a terrific lighting design by Liam O’Keefe, sound design by Melanie Herbert, and set and costume design by Victor Kalka.

WYRD is a show brimming with boil and bubble, a cauldron of theatrical potion that casts an entertaining and enthralling spell.

‘Tis wicked that WYRD comes in such short season. By the pricking of your thumb, be sure to get a seat for your bum.

WYRD: THE SEASON OF THE WITCH
31 Oct – 4 Nov, 7:30pm | PACT, 107 Railway Pde Erskineville
Tickets: $33/$25 | Bookings: ninefoldensemble.com