THE multi-award winning Mark Bruce Company will tour their haunting new dance/theatre re-imagining of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ in 2018.
The Frome-based company will be bringing their tour to the Frome Merlin Theatre on Thursday 25th – Saturday 27th January where they will perform a striking dance/theatre re-imagining of Shakespeare’s tragic tale of power, corruption and murder.
With direction and choreography by visionary artistic director Mark Bruce, a cast of nine outstanding performers and dramatic design, Mark Bruce Company’s ‘Macbeth’ will realise a beautifully harrowing vision of an internal wasteland formed from the pursuit of power through ruthless means.
Mark Bruce, artistic director said, “Macbeth hits you fast, cuts through to the bone, and for me it is the least ambiguous of Shakespeare’s plays. Its darkness opens our nightmares; we recognise fundamental traits inside ourselves and the consequences of acting upon them. The vicious pursuit of power to fill a void will always be relevant – the Macbeths are everywhere in every age, because they are a part of us.
“I first read Macbeth as a teenager and returning to it now the images, atmosphere it evokes have not changed. Its power lies in a relentless tale of supernatural horror told with a beauty and symbolism that reaches to the tragic state of the ‘other’. The supernatural is always present in Macbeth, bending our own thoughts and perceptions, as well as those of the protagonists. It infects us, always one step ahead, and Macbeth’s decisions are made in the world of a nightmare as if there is no separation between thought and action. Murder is done and descent is rapid.
“The Macbeths are mere playthings of the evil they set free, and in the madness and emptiness that ensues they become but walking shadows, or, as in my adaptation, simply clowns of sound and fury.”
Mark Bruce Company has built up a formidable reputation for uncompromising dance-theatre work and hope this new tour will be as successful as previous works such as their award-winning Dracula in 2014.
Tickets are £15 for adults and £12.50 for concessions and is suitable for those aged 11+. You can purchase tickets from The Merlin Theatre website at www.merlintheatre.co.uk. The show starts at 7.45pm on all three nights.
