THEATRE: Macbeth, The Capitol, Horsham
THERE are a few modern-day parallels which make the tale of Macbeth and his highly-driven wife all the more comprehensible, reckons Jason Lee Scott.
Jason, who takes the lead in the Scottish play for the third time for Shakespeare 4 Kidz, will be in action again with the company when they offer a preview in Horsham.
The 14-strong company will be at The Capitol for one night only when they stage an open dress rehearsal to which the public are invited on Friday September 4 at 7pm.
And Jason is sure that his audience will find much to recognise in Macbeth and Lady M.
Think Macbeth and his wife, think the Beckhams and Katie Price/Peter Andre, says Jason. Think strong, driven woman and weaker husband.
"The concept is perhaps easier to grasp now," says Jason. "I am not suggesting that Lady Macbeth is going to large it up in Ibiza for two weeks with the witches."
Nor, he adds, is he suggesting that Victoria Beckham is going to try to overturn the monarchy.
"But Macbeth is easy to see when you have got strong women that can manipulate their men and almost turn them into a brand. The Macbeths were like the brand of their day.
"And I do think a lot of his downfall was down to her. Without her he would have been happy to accept what was given him."
Such parallels are one of the ways the company seeks to make Shakespeare directly comprehensible and accessible. Another way is to turn the famously-cursed play into a musical, previewing it in Horsham before an autumn tour throughout the UK.
Shakespeare 4 Kidz plays use the most famous lines from the original texts, weave them into modern language, add some songs and dances into the mix and the result is a two-hour entertainment which everyone – even the youngest primary kids – can understand.
The plot is retained and all the major characters are there too, to tell the blood-soaked story of the murderous Scottish warrior who, egged on by the prophecies of three weird witches and the ambitions of his evil wife, removes every obstacle in his path until he can seize the throne for himself.
"It's an introduction to the play. No one is pretending that it gives you absolute depth, but it gives you an understanding of the key elements. When you were at school you would see Shakespeare and you would come away having missed bits and pieces and not really having grasped what it's all about. But this is a version that gives you the basic thread."
And the hope is that you then go on to discover the original.
The company is Shakespeare 4 Kidz but Jason stresses that it is not just for the kiddies: "All the darker sides in the play are very much pointed to. They are not just glossed over."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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