Have you booked yet for the lauded new post-apocalyptic version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth? The Devil You Know Theatre Company production is now running at the iconic Bussey Building in Peckham, south London, until 18 November 2017. We’ve rounded up some of our favourite review quotes and gathered audience reactions below…
This thrilling new version is set 100 years in the future in a dystopian world after a global nuclear apocalypse where civilisation and technology has been obliterated. Life has restarted but society and humanity have reverted. Survivors have forged weapons and primitive forts from scavenging what is left and face a daily fight for survival. This brutal landscape presents an evocative setting for one of Shakespeare’s most violent and chillingly evil plays.
Directed by Paul Tomlinson, the cast is led by Henry Proffit in the title role and also features Sadie Pepperrell, Danielle Bond, Cameron Crighton, Guy Dennys, James Duffy, Jared Fortune, JK Glynn, Jack Mellett, James Pearse, Tony Portacio, Kate Somerton, Jake Sullivan, and child actors Adam Nkoso, Rowan Carpenter, Quentin Debone, and Javi Foyle from Anna Fiorentini Theatre & Film School.
Macbeth runs until 18 November 2017 at the CLF Art Cafe, Bussey Building, Peckham Nearest station is Peckham Rye. Tickets are £12 (£5 on Mondays).
Review highlights
Dave Hollander: “The ensemble moves the action deftly from scene to scene, rarely passing up the chance to indulge in gruesome acts of brutality, enacted with coshes, knives and machetes… this blood-spattered account is convincing and frequently thrilling.”
“Henry Proffit cuts a paranoid figure as Macbeth: his unease is as much a driver of bloody deeds as his unfettered ambition… Jared Fortune shines as the valiant Macduff… Sadie Pepperrell’s Lady Macbeth… is steely, beguiling and deeply unsettling”
Anne Cox: “This is a timeless Macbeth… bloody, brutal and uncompromising… this show isn’t for the faint-hearted.”
“Proffit makes a convincing and conflicted thane. His frequent soliloquies to the audience draw us into his thought processes as he struggles with the witches’ prophecy… Pepperrell is excellent, delivering a ruthless and savage turn as Lady Macbeth.”
The Spy in the Stalls – ★★★★
Claire Minnit: “The intimate setting as well as the pace were the winning combination for this particular adaptation. Additionally, the actors… added an incredible energy from start to finish, accompanied by some beautiful characterisation. The pace… rose to a wonderful crescendo as the audience followed Macbeth’s slow descent into a blood-thirsty, maddening rage.”
Peter Brown: “Henry Proffit’s laudable Macbeth is obviously an intelligent fighter and survivor, but just beneath the surface of what appears a fairly normal exterior lies something murkily odd and unnerving, perhaps psychopathic, probably deranged… [an] enthralling and intriguingly atmospheric version of Macbeth that ably captures a society in disturbing despair…”
Alessandra Cenni: “The raw savagery of the plot found its perfect expression in this broken, hopeless imitation of humanity… Fierce, energetic… I felt I was in the middle of an epic war with only six actors actually fighting on stage… Macbeth and his Lady were just made for the part.”
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