Curtain up: What's next for Ya Mum?

O Woe Is Me is a bold, playful reimagining of Shakespeare that cracks open the classics and hands them back to everyone. Blending physical theatre, sharp humour, pop culture and moments of startling insight, the women of Shakespeare’s tragedies step out of the shadows and tell their own stories. Witches meddle, heroes unravel, and Shakespeare himself is lovingly interrogated.

At its heart, the work asks a mischievous but serious question: what happens when the women who were once plot devices finally take control of the narrative? Across centuries of storytelling, female characters have often been written as symbols, warnings, or convenient turning points in a hero’s downfall. Were they storms to be weathered? Temptations to be blamed? Or simply voices never allowed to speak for themselves?

Through bold physical storytelling and accessible language, O Woe Is Me demystifies Shakespeare and opens the door to audiences who may have felt shut out of classical theatre. The piece explores how women in literature are repeatedly framed as disobedient daughters, dangerous lovers, inadequate mothers or inconvenient wives. But what if the story shifts?

This vibrant and irreverent production invites audiences to laugh, question and rediscover the classics from a new perspective, where the language becomes clear, the themes feel immediate, and the women finally claim the stage.

No prior Shakespeare knowledge require