MAGIC OF LADIE M. to Run at Rhino Fest in Chicago
Rory Jobst directs Laura Scruggs' sex-positive reimagining of Shakespeare at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble.
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Fat Theatre Project will present Magic of Ladie M., a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth by LaurA! Force Scruggs, as part of Chicago's Rhino Fest this October.
Directed by Rory Jobst, Magic of Ladie M. is set in Washington, D.C. and a magical realm in the near future. Told from Lady Macbeth's point of view, the play reimagines Shakespeare's tragedy within the context of the American government and explores the possibility of a woman becoming president.
The adaptation places particular emphasis on the original play's themes of magic and sexuality, reimagining Lady Macbeth as sex-positive and Macbeth as bisexual. The production also offers new interpretations of elements of Shakespeare's story, including the prophecy surrounding a character “not born of a woman.” Randy Rainbow appears as one of the witches.
Jessica Lauren Fisher will take on the title role, with Fat Theatre Project Core Collective member Kit Kelly as Possibility the Peacock. Sarah Joy Adler serves as understudy.
Scruggs was originally commissioned to write Magic of Ladie M. by Three Brothers Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois. The play subsequently received readings at Three Brothers Theatre's Waukegan Theatre Festival and Three Cat Productions' New Works Festival in Chicago in 2018.
In 2020, the work received an online performative reading with Act Your Page, followed by an online reading with Chicago's Violet Surprise in 2021. It was later named a finalist for San Diego's Trinity Theatre Company's 2024 New Works Festival and received a reading as part of the 2025 Spilled Ink Series at The Camel City Playhouse in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
A former Chicago resident, Scruggs also had her work featured in Fat Theatre Project's Fat Tuesdays reading series in 2025.
Magic of Ladie M. will be presented October 9, 10 and 23 at 9 p.m. at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave. in Chicago. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available with a suggested $10 price point.
Rhino Fest is Chicago's longest-running fringe theater festival and is co-produced by Prop Thtr and Curious Theatre Branch.
Fat Theatre Project produces work by, about, for and with fat artists, with a mission centered on imaginative, compassionate and bold storytelling while keeping its work accessible to audiences.
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