Cabaret

Schadenfreude

Name: Schadenfreude
Start: 2026-10-28
End: 2026-11-04
Location: Melbourne Spiegel Haus

When: Wednesday 28 October 2026 – Wednesday 4 November 20261h 40m
Where: Melbourne Spiegel Haus · Spiegel Haus Melbourne · 217 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Price: From $79

Craig McLachlan plays the gloriously devilish Dr Schadenfreude, presiding over a night devoted to that wonderfully inappropriate little thrill we get when somebody else’s perfectly ordered world goes completely awry.

Across original music, twisted takes on familiar songs, circus, magic, burlesque and puppetry, the doctor sets out to explain exactly why other people’s misfortune is so entertaining. His patients have other ideas. By the end, nobody is watching safely from the waiting room.

The question is not whether we enjoy watching things go wrong. It’s how much fun we’re prepared to have when they do.

“Dr Schadenfreude is the sort of man who walks into a room absolutely certain he is the smartest person in it. Naturally, that makes watching him lose control enormously satisfying.”

– Craig McLachaln

With Kristian Lavercombe (2,600 performances of The Rocky Horror Show) and Brendan Irving. Music supervision by Vanessa Scammell.

Content warnings: adult themes, strong language, theatrical haze, nudity, ribald humour, marionette hemicorporectomy