REVIEW: Yve Blake Gives Shakespeare’s Tragedy Of Macbeth A Contemporary Teen Treatment With MACKENZIE

Friday 12th June 2026, 7pm, The Neilson Nutshell, Walsh Bay

An hilarious homage and caution about teenage fame and unchecked egos, the Tragedy Of Macbeth is transformed in MACKENZIE. Following on from her award-winning FANGIRLS, Yve Blake (script, songs and consulting producer) has created a new teen-centric story that pairs 17th century Shakespeare with late 20th century Kids TV.

Under Virginia Gay’s direction, the story of 13 year old Mackenzie (Kimberley Hodgson), a minor character actor in “The Dahlia Show”, a Kids TV show (think variety shows like The All-New Mickey Mouse Club and sitcoms like Hannah Montana and Lizzie McGuire), unfolds when she and her fellow actor Beau (Ryan González) receive a prophecy from a mysterious hair and makeup artist, Pickle (Jane Watt) that Mackenzie will become a world famous pop superstar.  Mackenzie’s mother Ruth (Nikki Britton) seizes on this news and ensures that her daughter gets the spotlight with a bit of dangerous sabotage.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Scottish play, Dahlia(Anusha Thomas) doesn’t quite meet the terminal fate of Duncan, King of Scotland, but it’s enough to end a career that is centred on image.  Like Lady Macbeth, ruthless Ruth is the mastermind behind the treachery, but dutiful hard working and wholesome head of catering Gayle (Billie Palin) is the one to see through the entitlement and arrogance of teen star in the manner of Macduff.  Mackenzie’s on-set friend and one time co-star Beau is her Banquo, but like Banquo, Beau will return to ‘haunt’ her dreams when she screws him over to steal the spotlight for herself. 

Prior to the show starting, the audience are told that, for the night, they are the studio audience at a taping of a television show, coached in the expected responses the producers want to hear on the sound track during the show.  The thrust stage arrangement of the blackbox space of the Neilson Nutshell works well for this premise with set and Costume Designer Keerthi Subramanyam opting for a glitter flecked black stage with concert stage stairs and an enormous banner as the only permanent set piece.  As with the source material that would have probably been presented with minimal set elements in the early 1600’s, Blake’s dialogue and Gay’s direction engages the audience’s imagination so that minimal set elements are wheeled in when necessary.  Subramanyam’s work really stands out in the costuming choices that allow the cast to grow from wholesome 13-year-olds to 17-year-olds preparing to bridge the divide between teen idol and a more mature fan base. 

As a play with songs, MACKENZIE is presented with a very ‘Australian’ style of comedy and Gay has gathered a skilled cast that can balance the absurdity of the industry and the plot with the weightiness of the underlying messages on ambition, greed, ethics and responsibility without letting it become too depressing.  Echoing the rise and fall of child stars that often have a limited career once they age out of the genre that bought them fame and fortune, MACKENZIE is a reminder that what the media don’t often show, at least not till the aftermath, is the psychological toll the entertainment industry can have on young performers, pushed into continuing as they become the cash cow for their parents, producers, and agents.  While child labour is regulated in other industries, the lives of high profile former child stars indicates there are issues in the entertainment industry. 

With a cast of six, Ryan González, Billie Palin, Anusha Thomas and Jane Watt all cover a variety of characters.  González has always had an ability to tap into an endearingly geeky character and his portrayal of a young Beau, relegated to the ‘school nerd’ character in The Dahlia Show is perfect.  The growth that González gives Beau for the 17-year-old that realises the falseness of the industry is sufficiently moody while the final character that he takes on is priceless.  Palin alternates between the no-nonsense studio executive keeping the pressure on the show’s simpering producer and the sensitive hard working head of catering that has been pandering to pushy unappreciative kids and their ego driven parents, giving Gayle a tolerance and calmness amongst the chaos.  As with Hodgson and González’s expression of 13-year-olds, Thomas leans into the awkwardness of youth, both in trying to conform to the expectation of professional camaraderie and attempts at friendship they are told to make.  As Mackenzie’s assistant, Thomas conveys the exasperation and the ‘I’m questioning my life choices’ of the thankless task of being servant to an ungrateful brat.  Doubling as the mysterious Pickle and the nervous Producer, Jane Watt engages the physical comedy to really reinforce the characters. 

As the core characters of Mackenzie and Ruth, Kimberley Hodgson and Nikki Britton play into the stereotypes.  Britton is the quintessential pushy stage mother that is using her child to live out her own dreams.  Enhanced by the bogun ‘uniform’ of velour tracksuit purchased a size too small, Britton ensures that Ruth is a grotesque expression which just increases once she’s manipulated Mackenzie into the spotlight.  The equivalent of Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness is played out with the requisite rambling disorientation though, just as with the source material, any real gore is kept offstage.

As Mackenzie, Kimberley Hodgson ensures that the evolution from awkward 13-year-old happy to be on a show to 17 almost 18-year-old at the height of her fame and ‘power’ is clear.  Gay has ensured that famous diva antics that have filled the tabloid press have informed Hodgson’s performance while adding a liberal dose of satire, from the obnoxious coffee orders to the ridiculous pets carried Paris Hilton style in a handbag.  Through Blake’s text and Gay’s direction, Hodgson also ensures parallels to the exhaustion and desire for escape that young celebrities have also expressed is also clear.

While the source material of The Tragedy of Macbeth still holds a relevance in its study of humanity, MACKENZIE makes it more easily relatable for a modern age as while this work is fiction, it is anchored in recognisable moments from real child actors.  While hopefully no current or former child actor or the family has committed the atrocities that Ruth and Mackenzie perpetrate, the psychological toll on a young person’s development is real if the media is telling the truth.  A warning message on many levels, wrapped up in humour, MACKENZIE is a great new Australian work for the young and the young at heart. 

Mackenzie | Bell Shakespeare

Need more Australia - Sydney Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...