Review: Final Queen, Fringe 2026

Final Queen was my first experience of Australia’s circus drag queen Grace Lightning (AKA Harrison Sweeney), and I didn’t really know what to expect going in. What I got was an original, energetic and funny show with haunted sheets, chainsaws, hula hooping, incredible acrobatic stunts, and Kyle Minogue (sort of)!

Vibe

A great hour of drag comedy/horror! This solo show is a fun story about Grace Lightning’s journey across the Australian outback on her way to try out to be Kylie Minogue’s backup support.

But, she’s up against deadly snakes and spiders, bigoted cryptids and chainsaw-wielding bushrangers.

Can she (and her two friends) do it?! Strong acrobatics, lip syncing and more!

Performance

This is a really joyful and gloriously sequinned performance, with Grace Lightning – a Fringe newcomer, I might add – seemingly in her element.

There are circus aspects to the show, including lots of jaw-droppingly powerful acrobatics (I can just imagine RuPaul’s face if some of these stunts happened during a lipsync on Drag Race!), interwoven into a really fun and entertaining narrative.

There’s some great lip sync performances from Grace and her friends, who are sometimes represented with Grace wearing the correct wig and becoming that queen, and other times the wigs being held in the air are good enough on their own. I love the energy Grace brings to the stage, with some playful audience interaction (we’re also encouraged to take photos).

One of my favourite parts of the show was the physical battle with the haunted sheet, where sometimes Grace is wrapped in it looking diva-like, and others she looks like she’s physically running away from it – it’s so silly but also visually entertaining, as you’ll see from the photo below.

Overall

I had such a great time watching Final Queen – especially as I’m into drag, comedy, circus and horror, this definitely felt like my vibe. It’s a great mashup of genres that together with a silly narrative means you’ll be following and rooting for Grace the whole way through. Grace’s energy on stage is incredible, and it’s a tightly-run show with fabulous musical numbers to make it top tier.

Grace Lightning is an absolute tour-de-force who commands the stage and entertains with seamless musical numbers, dancing, acrobatics, crowdwork and more. Definitely an act I won’t be forgetting any time soon!