The Tragedy of Macbeth
https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/macbeth/
Southwark Playhouse 14 March - 8 April 2023 7.30pm (matinees 3pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays)
Southwark Playhouse 14 March - 8 April 2023 7.30pm (matinees 3pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays)
Following a hugely successful Edinburgh Festival 2022 run, award-winning Flabbergast Theatre are bringing their highly critically acclaimed The Tragedy of Macbeth to Southwark playhouse for a four-week run.
In this classic tale of greed and guilt, Flabbergast’s Macbeth fuses a rigorous and respectful approach to text and storytelling to bring a magical, lucid interpretation of Shakespeare’s blood-soaked tragedy to life.
Playing to their strengths and background in puppetry, clown, mask, ensemble and physical theatre, Flabbergast have developed their first text-based production (with extensive R&D with Wilton’s Musical Hall London and Grotowski Institute Poland) to foster the bard’s original text supported with exhilarating live music to produce a provocative and enjoyably accessible show.
Beautifully performed music and vocal work combine into a powerful live soundscape creating an atmosphere that both compliments and juxtaposes the action. With a stripped back set, and an aesthetically arresting design, the tightknit ensemble of actors performs a dark and visceral manifestation of the work’s essence and underlaying themes.
Flabbergast presents an instinctive interpretation of Shakespeare’s most wretched tragedy, working to draw out the parallels with modern society. At its heart, the dominant recurring theme and fundamental narrative that powers The Tragedy of Macbeth is the masculine fear of feminine power; and in this sense, the play is as pertinent today as it has ever been.
This timeless work examines what it meant to be a man, and what it meant to be a woman and underscores the social contracts between the two that dictate the actions of the protagonists. The notion that gender is a social construct, is never more clear than during Lady Macbeth's "unsex me here" soliloquy, as she fights to set aside her feminine role, lest it hinder her dark ambitions. And the witches - who can appear as crones or maids - embody the power which threatened the patriarchal establishment.
Bringing a performance for both new and established theatregoers to fully appreciate, Flabbergast’s Shakespeare is for everyone; a visceral and eloquent retelling of Shakespeare’s imbrued tale of vicissitude.
In this classic tale of greed and guilt, Flabbergast’s Macbeth fuses a rigorous and respectful approach to text and storytelling to bring a magical, lucid interpretation of Shakespeare’s blood-soaked tragedy to life.
Playing to their strengths and background in puppetry, clown, mask, ensemble and physical theatre, Flabbergast have developed their first text-based production (with extensive R&D with Wilton’s Musical Hall London and Grotowski Institute Poland) to foster the bard’s original text supported with exhilarating live music to produce a provocative and enjoyably accessible show.
Beautifully performed music and vocal work combine into a powerful live soundscape creating an atmosphere that both compliments and juxtaposes the action. With a stripped back set, and an aesthetically arresting design, the tightknit ensemble of actors performs a dark and visceral manifestation of the work’s essence and underlaying themes.
Flabbergast presents an instinctive interpretation of Shakespeare’s most wretched tragedy, working to draw out the parallels with modern society. At its heart, the dominant recurring theme and fundamental narrative that powers The Tragedy of Macbeth is the masculine fear of feminine power; and in this sense, the play is as pertinent today as it has ever been.
This timeless work examines what it meant to be a man, and what it meant to be a woman and underscores the social contracts between the two that dictate the actions of the protagonists. The notion that gender is a social construct, is never more clear than during Lady Macbeth's "unsex me here" soliloquy, as she fights to set aside her feminine role, lest it hinder her dark ambitions. And the witches - who can appear as crones or maids - embody the power which threatened the patriarchal establishment.
Bringing a performance for both new and established theatregoers to fully appreciate, Flabbergast’s Shakespeare is for everyone; a visceral and eloquent retelling of Shakespeare’s imbrued tale of vicissitude.
FLABBERGAST: THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE: 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
Date: Tuesday 14 March – Saturday 8 April 2023, 7.30pm (matinees 3pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays)
PRESS NIGHT: THURSDAY 16th March
https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/macbeth/
SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE: 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
Date: Tuesday 14 March – Saturday 8 April 2023, 7.30pm (matinees 3pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays)
PRESS NIGHT: THURSDAY 16th March
https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/macbeth/
ABOUT FLABBERGAST THEATRE
Formed in 2010, Flabbergast was conceived to make exciting theatre rooted in physicality and devising with a belief that all theatre should be vital, engaging and accessible.
The company is committed to exploration of all theatrical styles adding to its excellent reputation in puppetry, physical comedy, and physical theatre and exploring other expressions and pedagogy such as Butoh, Grotowski, Lecoq and Mask.
In devising, Flabbergast considers that its creatives are its greatest resource and as such endeavour to create theatre through an extensive and collaborative research and development process using performers from many disciplines including acting, dance, clowning, circus arts and puppetry.
Furthermore, the company is committed to the development and creative growth of its ensemble, both within the context of Flabbergast Theatre but also as artists in their own right.
Flabbergast’s previous, critically-acclaimed productions include: The Swell Mob, an award-winning dark, sinister immersive 2018 experience, Tatterdemalion, a hilarious, absurd and often magical show, which juxtaposed themes of loneliness and belonging with joy and exhilaration, and puppetry's Balkan bunraku bad boys: Boris & Sergey, a high-octane, bittersweet, hyphenated epic adventure in puppetry.
The company is committed to exploration of all theatrical styles adding to its excellent reputation in puppetry, physical comedy, and physical theatre and exploring other expressions and pedagogy such as Butoh, Grotowski, Lecoq and Mask.
In devising, Flabbergast considers that its creatives are its greatest resource and as such endeavour to create theatre through an extensive and collaborative research and development process using performers from many disciplines including acting, dance, clowning, circus arts and puppetry.
Furthermore, the company is committed to the development and creative growth of its ensemble, both within the context of Flabbergast Theatre but also as artists in their own right.
Flabbergast’s previous, critically-acclaimed productions include: The Swell Mob, an award-winning dark, sinister immersive 2018 experience, Tatterdemalion, a hilarious, absurd and often magical show, which juxtaposed themes of loneliness and belonging with joy and exhilaration, and puppetry's Balkan bunraku bad boys: Boris & Sergey, a high-octane, bittersweet, hyphenated epic adventure in puppetry.