Theatre Review: Shakespeare at the National Arts Festival 2007

Abstract

What is today the National Arts Festival began, in 1974, with a Shakespeare Festival organised by Professor Guy Butler and colleagues to inaugurate the Monument complex on Signal Hill overlooking Grahamstown. Though no longer the main offering, Shakespeare is still on the festival menu; there are no fewer than five ‘Shakespearean' shows in 2007, and the bard's work has been Joburged, hiphopped, quarto'd, Zimbabwe'd and, would you believe it, even played ‘straight'. Perhaps the most prominent production has been The Dance Factory's Macbeth (conceived and created by P.J. Sabbagha). From the moment that we see Dada Masilo, who dances the part of Lady Macbeth, appear – ‘Joburg'-branded shopping bag in hand – dressing in designer gear offered to her by the witches, we are immersed in a seductive but dangerous city culture of cellphones and consumerism, of corporate high-flying and sexed-up nightclubbing. As with many dance pieces, audience members looking for narrative continuity and clear characterisation will be disappointed; we have a Macbeth, certainly, but beyond that it becomes increasingly difficult to identify (for instance) a Duncan, or a Macduff, or a Banquo. Rather, there are thematic resonances with Shakespeare's play – which, of course, might lead the cynical to suggest that the piece be titled ‘Lust, Greed, Power, etc.' or something similar, rather than Macbeth. Nevertheless, it is a compelling piece and has been received enthusiastically by dance aficionados.

Shakespeare in Southern Africa Vol. 20 2008: pp. 63-72