Somewhere between contemporary circus, performance art and queer theatre, Malin Brandl has created a stage world all of her own. The production “Queer Witch” will premiere at the 2026 Salzburg Pride Festival – and promises to be a spectacle the likes of which Salzburg has never seen before.

What do flying brooms, absurd characters and two and a half months of intensive training have in common? We sat down with Malin to find out. Combining aerial acrobatics, drag and absurd physical theatre, Malin creates a stage world that is a rarity in Salzburg. Anyone who sees Malin perform quickly realises that this isn’t just about classic drag shows or pure circus. Rather, she has developed a style all of her own – somewhere between contemporary circus, performance art and queer theatre.

“You could say it’s a form of contemporary technical circus,” says Malin, describing her own work. “My specialities are mainly static trapeze and physical theatre. It’s mostly clownish – I’m quite fond of quirky, absurd characters.”

From the circus to queer performance

It all started with the circus, actually. Drag came into the picture later. Malin has been working professionally in this field for around six years. Malin gained their first experience at a circus convention in Salzburg – at that time, it was exclusively aerial acrobatics on the silks. It was only over time that this evolved into a blend of acrobatics, character work and queer performance.

It is precisely this unusual combination that regularly thrills the audience. Many people particularly remember a performance at “Magic Amour”, where Malin performed with a disco ball and displayed spectacular head acrobatics. “It’s a discipline that isn’t practised very much in Austria yet – and hardly at all in Salzburg, in fact,” says Malin.

“40 hours a week – giving it my all”

The work behind the shows is intense. New pieces often take months or even years to develop. For the current project, “Queer Witch”, the troupe recently trained together almost every day for over two and a half months. “40 hours a week – going all out,” says Malin with a laugh. As well as physical training, trust and creative collaboration also play a major role.

“Queer Witch” combines aerial acrobatics, magic and drag with a narrative journey. Together with the artist Steff, Malin has created a performance that blends mysticism, humour and queer self-empowerment. The piece begins in a sombre and mysterious vein, but gradually evolves towards a sense of liberation and celebration. “The character goes on a journey of sorts,” explains Malin. “At the start, they’re more stiff and serious, and then everything becomes more colourful – it actually ends in a celebration.”

“Let your crazy ideas run wild”

On stage, flying brooms, magic tricks and aerial acrobatics come together. At the same time, there is room for improvisation and spontaneous moments. Although perfectionism is always present, Malin explains, the main thing is to stay in character: “As long as I stay in character, even when things go wrong, I’m happy.”

The audience is also particularly important in this regard. Without their energy, many projects would never even get off the ground. “It’s lovely to have this freedom and just let all those crazy ideas flow,” says Malin. Malin finds the Salzburg audience surprisingly open and engaged, particularly at drag shows: “They really get into the spirit of things.”

With “Queer Witch”, visitors to the Pride Festival can therefore expect not a traditional drag show, but an immersive blend of circus, queer performance, magic and theatre. Or, as Malin herself puts it: “You can look forward to plenty of aerial acrobatics. A flying broomstick. Magic tricks. And a great atmosphere.”
Sebastian Brandstätter