For the second time in its history, Volcano re-invents Shakespeare’s pacy, eloquent tragedy; this time with a new generation of outstanding performers. Lady Macbeth is the Glaswegian powerhouse Mairi Phillips, whose irrepressible energy has fizzed through several of Volcano’s recent productions from Chekhov to A Clockwork Orange. Her partner in crime is Welshman Alex Harries, best known as DC Lloyd Elis in the BBC1 drama Hinterland.
"Volcano by name, volcanic by nature, the Swansea company's psycho serial-killer drama smashes down theatre's fourth wall, [...] moving in and out of Shakespeare's script in a night of sound and fury signifying plenty."
This is an arresting, untraditional Shakespeare with powerful performances, striking design and sensory surprises. We have stripped back action and character to zoom in on the dynamics of the killer couple, tracking their murderous ambitions, escalating anxieties and disintegrating bonds against a backdrop of sensual pleasure and normalized violence. The setting walks an uneasy line between the regal and the domestic, exposing an austere brutality underpinning the noble pretensions of personal and political power. Expect a boisterous, playful Macbeth with ribald humour and a muscular undertow of menace.
"The extreme theatre of Brecht, agit-prop, Kneehigh and Ken Campbell, as well as Oliver Stone's swaggering 1995 movie Natural Born Killers, all come to mind in Volcano's Macbeth, shaking up Shakespeare with dark humour and theatrically anarchic relish."
RUNNING TIMES
80 minutes, no interval.
AGE RECOMMENDATION
14+
