With the first couple of numbers, I thought Madame Martha’s may end up being a disjointed pastiche of unrelated songs – like the lip-synced drag shows at any gay club in the 1990s.
Except the three drag queens in Madame Martha’s – creative genius Jens Radda, Hugo Weaving’s Mitzi-reminiscent (film version of The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert) Iva Rosebud, and marvellous Meg Hickey – do sing and what’s more they can sing.
And my fears of a lack of narrative bond are unfounded as the performers create a modern take on Parisian cabaret traditions. One such tradition is Montmartre culture, the bohemian spirit of artistic experimentation and social commentary. As the three performers conduct these experiments, it’s clear they’re having fun doing so.
Another tradition is intimacy of space, where the performers and audience are in close proximity, creating a sense of complicity. Though I admit to being at a loss as to what to do when Hickey handed me a semi-eaten baguette.
A third tradition is gender performance, an exploration of fluid gender roles (Hickey’s body hair, Rosebud’s moustache and transformation from girl to boy in front of you), with drag and burlesque used as vehicles for commentary.
After sell out seasons elsewhere, Madame Martha’s is known for its ability to blend Moulin Rouge glamour with Berlin grunge aesthetics.
This “Berlin grunge” manifests in the raw, unpolished edges deliberately contrasting with the show’s glitzy moments – think Weimar Republic cabaret meets industrial punk sensibility, with unconventional staging and confrontational artistic choices. The show incorporates nudity, but its purpose is neither titillation nor shock value.
Madame Martha’s is a world-class cabaret. Jens Radda’s training from École Philippe Gaulier and Complete Vocal Institute shows up in otherworldly live vocals and impeccable costumes and stage presence.
The standout song for me is Iva Rosebud’s What is a Man? It’s sobering and reflective, an example of the show’s emotional variety. It’s not comedy all the way through.
Each of the performers knows how to maximise the intimate space and engage with the audience, while remaining in control of the interaction and using it to accomplish their desired, usually comedic, purpose. As a result, the audience responded well, completely engaged throughout the performance.
This engagement goes beyond mere entertainment value. In watching the audience’s rapt attention during the show’s most subversive moments, it becomes clear that Madame Martha’s offers something increasingly vital in today’s political climate.
What makes Madame Martha’s particularly relevant today is how it reclaims cabaret’s long tradition of political subversion through art. The show’s fearless approach to gender performance feels especially poignant at a moment when drag itself has become a cultural battleground.
Drag has evolved and it needs to when the right is rising to bring sexual and gender politics back into balance. The rainbow communities are at risk of losing the gains they’ve made over the past 30 years.
Madame Martha’s bridges the gap between past and future by honouring Parisian cabaret traditions and calling audiences to think about the future. It couldn’t be further from a 1990s gay club drag show. Rather, its history lies in the best European cabaret.
Madame Martha’s After Dark: The Parisian Cabaret
The Kingfisher at Gluttony – Rymill Park, Adelaide
Performance: 4 March 2025 – 10.00 pm
Season continues to 9 March 2025
Information and Bookings: www.adelaidefringe.com.au
Image: Madame Martha’s – photo by I Got Shot By Charlie
Review: Daniel G. Taylor