The article discusses a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth reimagined as a glitter-soaked tale of child stardom set in 2006.
What does it take to turn Shakespeare’s Macbeth into a glitter-soaked tale of child stardom set in 2006? For playwright Yve Blake, it involved six busy weeks of rehearsals, rewrites, wigs, quick changes and a few moments of panic as Mackenzie made its way towards opening night at Bell Shakespeare. Ahead of the production’s premiere, Blake kept a behind-the-scenes diary documenting the journey from first read-through to preview.
WEEK ONE
It’s day one of rehearsals and I feel like a kid at Christmas! What do you mean a prestigious theatre company like Bell Shakespeare is letting us make a CAMP adaptation of Macbeth where Macbeth is a 13-year-old girl, and also a child actor, and also Lady Macbeth is her ruthless stage mum, and also it’s set in 2006?!
I walk into the room to see dozens of smiling faces. The entire Bell Shakespeare staff are here to greet the team who will bring this show to life. This is when I learn that there are three separate people here to make costumes for this show. Three!
Our genius designer, Keerthi Subramanyam, presents a model box of the theatre, and a teeny-tiny version of the VERY sparkly set she’s designed. She shows us her costume mood boards, and we collectively squeal at pictures of Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and the biggest child stars of 2006.
We launch into a table read and, as I listen, I scribble all over the script, making notes about sounds that are slow or long or worth trimming, and of which punchlines could hit harder. I smoosh endless Post-it notes onto the pages, reminding myself what to come back to.
This play is full of very silly fake pop songs, all written to sound like the type of music that a Disney Channel starlet would have released in the noughties (I had a lot of fun). And, each time we play one of my demos in the table read, our choreographer, Elle Evangelista, launches into full draft choreography, all while her 10-month-old daughter is strapped to her chest. I am instantly obsessed with this woman.
During the week we chat about the show, read a lot of Macbeth , and watch a lot of YouTube. We exchange clips from High School Musical and Hannah Montana (crucial research) and go feral with nostalgia.
Ryan Gonzalez and Anusha Thomas. Brett Boardman WEEK TWO
And we’re up on our feet! Or, the actors are, and I am sitting at a trestle table swapping emails with Currency Press, the wonderful publishing house that is going to publish the script of Mackenzie .
They need me to send them a “final” version of the script by Friday so they can print it in time for our first performance (and then we can sell it on the merch desk). What an honour, but the pressure is on.
I stare at the Post-it notes that have taken over my printed script. They jut out like teeth from every page. I edit and edit the script on my laptop, knowing full well that I’ll probably have 27 epiphanies about it from the moment I send it off. Still, I hit send.
WEEK THREE
Prototype wigs have entered the room! Famously, Macbeth becomes King of Scotland, but in our adaptation, Mackenzie becomes the Number One Pop Girl of the World. So, while Macbeth scores a crown, Mackenzie gets… upgraded hair.
We watch her pull on the wig she’ll start the show in – an intentionally horrific bowl cut – and our jaws hit the floor. It is terrible. It is perfect. I work late each night this week, marking up a printed proof of the soon-to-be published script.
To end the week, the cast does their first stumble-through of the whole show. It’s pure chaos. None of the wig changes goes right, but it’s also… incredible. The cast makes me snort-laugh, then they make me cry, and hey! I know all the spoilers! There’s work to do, but at this rate, this show will be even better than my wildest dreams.
From left: Genevieve Goldman, Thomas Rodgers, Anusha Thomas and Jane Watt. Brett Boardman WEEK FOUR
An endless parade of goofy props appears in the room: three rubber pigs stuffed into a pink handbag. Multiple bedazzled flip phones. A plastic bag of fake turds, lovingly handmade by the props department. Then boxes of merch arrive, including hot-pink carabiners with our show’s logo on them (Gay rights!).
On Thursday night, we host about 100 Bell Shakespeare donors in the rehearsal room for a special event where they get to see a sneak peek of the show. It’s nerve-wracking. This show is a huge departure from Bell Shakespeare’s regular fare. What if the donors don’t like it? Can they ask for their money back?
The actors begin, I hold my breath, and then a character delivers a line that heavily references Macbeth . The donors cackle knowingly. And then the laughs keep rolling. PHEW.
WEEK FIVE
Every afternoon this week, the actors run the entire show. Not only that, they begin running the frankly diabolical number of quick changes they have backstage.
See, in this show, six actors play more than 20 characters, meaning almost every costume change operates like a Formula One pit stop. At our director’s request, I don’t watch a run until Th…
Read the full article at The Age →The article discusses a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth reimagined as a glitter-soaked tale of child stardom set in 2006.
Bias read (Center): The article focuses on a cultural production and does not engage with politically charged topics or present any ideological framing.
The article discusses a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth reimagined as a glitter-soaked tale of child stardom set in 2006.
Bias read (Center): The article focuses on a cultural production and does not engage with politically charged topics or present any ideological framing.
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