A memorable theatrical experience
Theatre-lovers, Macbeth at Omnibus is a production you should see. It’s not a standard Shakespearean performance, as is immediately clear when you pick up your ticket at the outdoor box office and are also handed a head-torch and a water-proof poncho. And offered a blanket. It certainly ups the anticipation more than being given a programme and being told to wait in the bar.
Outdoor productions of Shakespeare are popular in England, but are normally restricted to the supposedly less wet months of summer. Omnibus, the new arts centre in Clapham, has chosen November for an immersive, promenading version of Macbeth. It’s a good choice. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is never much fun when it pours but Macbeth is ideal for a dark London evening and almost improves when the rain starts to fall.
Starting on the streets of Clapham, the audience follow the weird sisters upon the heath, sorry, Clapham Common, confusing the evening dog walkers who see a couple of tramps followed by a horde of people with head torches. The players pause at various locations, a makeshift stage in front of a statue, a burning brazier in the middle of the drained Cock Pond. The play begins to take shape amongst the locals walking home. It’s dark, the actors light their own faces with torches, but members of the audience help with head torches. You are part of the performance, in control of the lighting, adding your beam and picking out details wherever you look.
Macbeth and Banquo are fighting for a renegade paramilitary organisation. We meet their leader Duncan outside a derelict toilet block. The currency of friendship is a packet of fags. The talk might be of Scotland and England, but this is any number of failed states around the world. Places where murdering your way to the top is still a career path worth considering, where regicide might have consequences but you can kill servants with impunity and just blame your fury.
The first half-hour or so is outside, but the bulk of the play takes part inside, mainly in a long room with seats either side. I sat half way along and did at one point feel proceedings had taken a Wimbledonesque turn as I turned repeatedly to see the action at each end of the room. It is lit with flickering strip lights hanging at wonky angles. Water drips incessantly in the background. These are not luxurious surroundings but the hideout of freedom fighters. Here the crown Macbeth craves does not sparkle but is already tarnished. His great ambition seems to be leader not of a great state, but of a bunch of rebels.
The actors are close-up, walking amongst the audience, the action near and absorbing. Gregory Finnigan as Macbeth is impressive, moving through the emotions the murderer experiences, showing the detailed horror that Macbeth inflicts on himself but tries to keep hidden. Whether conflicted, uncertain, hallucinating or resigned it is an intense performance of a character who acts against his better judgement and is trapped in a prison of his own creation.
The rest of the cast work to create an atmospheric piece, helped by the outdoor dark and fiery locations. Roxy Music’s Love is the Drug plays through the banquet scene, suggesting a motive for Macbeth’s actions. Jennifer Jackson as Lady Macbeth demonstrates a harrowingly painful madness, though her influence on her husband doesn’t appear malevolent enough. Samuel Collings’ Banquo shares a poignant scene with his son. The weird sisters’ interactions with Macbeth take place almost unseen in the dark, their messages supplemented by video screens appearing to be hallucinations. Macbeth is clearly sick.
The pacy, promenading approach gives an immersive group experience. You can be huddling in an alley watching Lady Mac high on a fire escape, or standing down-wind of a blazing brazier watching the action through the smoke. There is time to ponder as you walk from one scene to the next, although with nearby busy road noise and no microphones the words are occasionally hard to hear.
The terrorist setting takes some of the force from Macbeth’s evil. When Duncan is a naive king his murder is abhorrent. The shock is lessened when he is dressed as one of the fighters, using cigarettes as gifts. Blood-thirsty changes in power are less outrageous in a terrorist organisation.
If you think Shakespeare is not your bag then try this outdoor-indoor version which is involving, unusual and exciting. If you think you’ve seen enough of Macbeth and his murdering ways this is an original take on the Scottish play and allows you a fresh experience. The main downside? This Macbeth makes traditional sit-down and watch theatre seem a bit staid.
Highly recommended as long as you have a warm coat.
Five Stars *****
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