MACBETH
SCRIPT, DESIGN + DIRECTION: BRETT BAILEY
MUSIC COMPOSITION: FABRIZIO CASSOL, ADAPTED FROM VERDI'S MACBETH
CONDUCTOR: PREMIL PETROVIC
LIGHTING DESIGNER: FELICE ROSS
'an astonishing appropriation - 5 stars' - THE TELEGRAPH, London
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'one of the most brilliantly conceived and executed theatrical productions I have seen anywhere in many years'
- DC THEATER ARTS, Philadelphia
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'Un formidable MACBETH congolais'
- LA LIBRE, Brussels
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'fiercely intelligent'
- LONDON CITY NIGHTS
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In this radical take on Verdi’s Macbeth, Shakespeare’s story of ambition, treachery and witchcraft is set in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, amongst the wars and ruthless exploitation that tear that invisible corner of the world apart.
Within a milieu of multinational double-dealings, ethnic conflict, brutal militia, ‘blood minerals’ and glittering Chinese imports, a Congolese warlord and his ambitious wife murder their leader and unleash atrocities on the crumbling African province that they seize.
MACBETH was rearranged for 10 South African opera singers and 12 musicians (5 strings, 5 wind, 2 percussion) by Fabrizio CassoL, who has previously composed music for Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Alain Platel, Faustin Linyekula, Luc Bondy and Philippe Boesmans.
The conductor was Premil Petrovic – an award-winning Berlin-based Serbian, conducting his own orchestra: the award-winning Belgrade-based ‘No Borders Orchestra’.
TOURING HISTORY: 2017 PuSh International Arts Festival / Festival for Vancouver Opera, Canada. 2016 KVS, Brussels, Belgium. TAP, Poitiers, France. Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Macao Arts Festival, China. Napoli Teatro Festival, Naples, Italy. Festival de Marseilles, France. The Athens Festival, Greece. Fairfield University, Connecticut, USA. Philadelphia Fringe, USA. Scene Nationale de Quimper, France. 2015 Asian Culture Complex Arts Theatre Gwangju, South Korea. Brisbane Festival, Australia. Kampnagel Internationale Kulturfabrik, Hamburg, Germany. FIBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Santiago a Mil, Santiago, Chile. Auckland Festival, New Zealand. 2014 Artscape Theatre, Cape Town, South Africa. Kunsten Festival des Arts / KVS, Brussels, Belgium. Operadagen, Rotterdam, Holland. Wiener Festwochen, Vienna, Austria. Theaterformen, Braunschweig, Germany. The Barbican, London, UK. Temporada Alta, Girona, Spain. Maria Matos Theatro Muncipale, Lisbon, portugal. Le Parvis, Tarbes, France. Theatre Garonne, Toulouse, France. Le Maillon, Strasbourg, France. Festival d’Automne/Montreuil, Paris, France. Festival d’Automne/La Ferme du Buisson, Paris, France. L’Hippodrome, Douai, France.