This was an excellently executed adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The tale centred around Macbeth and her husband rather than Macbeth and his mother, but the Scottish play was routinely interrupted by hilarious crowd work, beautiful country music, and perfectly timed modern deviations from the script (“Yeah love that for you, c-c-c-cool, c-cool, cool, cool.”)
From the outset, it was clear that this was going to be a high energy performance, and the cast did not drop the ball once. Not only did the cast speak Shakespearean English with ease and act with passion and conviction, but they also played a multitude of instruments live. The show was full of talented performances of popular country and bluegrass songs that got everyone singing along and tapping their feet – the incredibly vocal and excited American couple next to me were in their element!
Standout performances for me were Gabby Anderson as the hilarious Queen Duncan, unafraid of awkward silences or dad-jokes, and Laura Irish as Macbeth. Laura Irish, sang and acted with conviction and emotion and radiated true queen energy. Towards the end, her shrieks of rage and insanity began to become a bit repetitive, but I suppose this tale does call for a fair helping of madness.
For me, there wasn’t a weak musician or actor in the cast, and it was a joy to watch them perform songs completely live, even doing their own sound effects with strange instruments along the back of the stage.
Despite the fast-paced Shakespearean English and confusing character changes, the audience were hooked, and this impressive fusion of Shakespeare and Bluegrass received a standing ovation, and rightfully so.
Macbeth: Blood and Bluegrass is running until 29 August at theSpace at Surgeon’s Hall. Buy tickets here.
Image by Max Brown for The Student.
