Review: ANDREW DOHERTY: GAY WITCH SEX CULT, Soho Theatre

“The time has come for me to tell you my story”

We begin Andrew Doherty: Gay Witch Sex Cult with Kaelan Trough (Doherty) gleefully repeating the word “Love” over and over, grinning at the audience as he wanders around the stage. It is then we are given the setting of our show - Kaelan and his partner, Jeremy, are having a gender reveal party for their baby. There is a black balloon hanging from the ceiling. Once popped, if the baby is a boy, blue rose petals will fall. If it’s a girl? Cooked shrimp.

From the very first lines of Gay Witch Sex Cult, Doherty’s sense of humour is clear and has the audience struggling to breathe from laughter. Kaelan may be an absolutely horrible human being with no care for anyone but himself, but he is quite hilarious, whether he intends to be or not. As we learn more about how Kaelan and Jeremy met, we also hear reference to past events involving a “Gay Witch Sex Cult” that Kaelan quickly brushes off before, suddenly, deciding to tell us the story.

For context, Kaelan tells us the history of the Gay Witch Sex Cult Island, a place where the women of the community were shunned to after they were discovered sacrificing children (though, according to Kaelan, they did take some more children “for the road”). Now, the island is abandoned, and Kaelan is there to see if it can be sold. Several times, we are reminded of the prophecy given by the Gay Witch Sex Cult - “One seeds the mother, the other bleeds the seal.” While audience members may be concerned by the insidious tone of the words, our protagonist simply brushes them off as nonsense, determined to expore the island with his new pal Gonzolo, a crab with a hilariously high-pitched gibberish-speaking voice. 

The structure of the story is quite clever, as even though we know the present day is set at the gender reveal party, we are thrown into flashbacks on the Gay Witch Sex Cult Island along with getting to see moments between Kaelan and Jeremy, even if it is all in Kaelan’s head with no actual sight of the other man. The story of the island is set up in chapters, with each scene change being made clear with a foghorn-like noise and a blackout. Doherty is an incredible actor and I loved how expressive his physical expressions were. His comedic timing is great as well, and he does a brilliant job of playing every character, including some fantastic scenes where he is on a boat and quickly switching between playing Kaelan and a strange old ferryman. 

One of the highlights of the show, which I wish would have got more laughs from the audience, was during Chapter 2 of the show, titled “The Priest,” in which Kaelan and Gonzolo explore an abandoned church. Kaelan is exploring the place, clearly having never been in a church before in his life, making comments about the strange paintings of a man who keeps falling down and getting up that looks eerily similar to the man stuck on the “T” (honestly, not the worst way I’ve seen the Stations of the Cross be referred to!).

Without going into too many spoilers, the ending is quite explosive and has some fantastic twists and turns! Even if a few of them are predictable for those familiar with the horror genre, it’s still ridiculously fun and I heard several audience members gasping in shock at some of the reveals. 

Ultimately, Andrew Doherty: Gay Witch Sex Cult is a genius piece of storytelling, brilliantly combining a ghost tale with comedy in a way that seems to make its own genre. Whether you’re a hardcore horror fan, a casual comedy lover or even a mixture of both, Gay Witch Sex Cult is a fantastic show. 

Andrew Doherty: Gay Witch Sex Cult ran from 18 to 20 April at Soho Theatre. It will be at the Edinburgh Fringe from 31 July to 25 August.

To post a comment, you must register and login.