Mabeth in Clapham (Photo: Tom Parker)
When: 11th – 29th November 2014, 7.30pm (matinée performances on 22nd and 29th at 2.30pm)
Where: Omnibus (Omnibus, 1 Clapham Common Northside, London SW4 0QW) and Clapham Common
£: Tickets cost £15 and £12 for concessions. Preview tickets cost £10
What is it?
Head to Clapham in London this autumn for a unique production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
The Omnibus building becomes Macbeth’s bunker and final refuge in this promenade performance, which draws local landmarks into the landscape of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. Macbeth will be performed both indoors and outdoors as the audience travel with the action. This atmospheric production explores the reality of life in the military, using design components to immerse audiences into a world devastated by conflict.
The concept for the production was partly inspired by photographs of Clapham Common taken shortly after World War II, when pre-fab buildings and allotments occupied local public spaces in a bid to alleviate the devastation of the war. Created through close collaboration between director Gemma Kerr and designer Lorna Ritchie, the performance incorporates a sense of this utilitarianism to consider what the area would be like if it had a different history. This unique production of Macbeth uses both existing and constructed monuments to draw the audience into the world of this classic text.
A unique production of Macbeth (Photo: Tom Parker)
Director Gemma Kerr said, “I was very struck by the nature of conflict in Macbeth, the relentlessness of this and the sense that even the peace at the end of the play doesn’t feel entirely true or redemptive. We knew we wanted to create a piece of promenade theatre using the Common, and so we began to think about what real disruption would look like in this area which is eminently civilised. The play explores a lot about what it means to be a soldier and what it means to be a human, and the personal journey of many of the characters through the play is related to this. Morality and ethics are held up to scrutiny without the play feeling like it’s beating you over the head about what’s ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. This ambiguity is one of the most intriguing aspects of the play for me.”
Omnibus opened in 2013 following a seven-year campaign to save the old Clapham library building from redevelopment. It was designated as the iconic new centre for the arts in Lambeth.
More info: www.omnibus-clapham.org/events/macbeth