Lady Macbeth Played Wing Defence is a musical reimagining of the classic Shakespearean tragedy. The royal court of Macbeth has been swapped for the netball court of Dunsinane High School, and all of the characters are now female-presenting.
If you’re wondering how this can possibly work, it’s worth considering that almost everything in the original play is somewhat over-dramatic. Witches on heaths delivering prophecies. A rapidly escalating amount of betrayal and murder. A quest for power that overrides all objections.
Then consider how overly dramatic sixteen and seventeen-year-old girls can be. I think you can see why this production is quite so inspired.
The cast of eight is accompanied by music on a pre-recorded backing track. As it’s often difficult to get a good sound mix at the Fringe, the creative team behind the show has made the sensible decision to offer sub-titles for the songs, projected onto the lines of a netball court that form the backdrop to the performing space.
The story follows the beats of the original, as Lady Macbeth, ‘but call me Mac’, has an unquenchable desire to be the captain of her Year 11 high school netball team the Dunsinane Hell Hounds. They’re heading for the local inter-school netball competition, and Mac wants to lead the team to victory, and then continue to lead them through Year 12, which is the final year of high school in Australia.
But there’s a problem! Mac plays Wing Defence. This is one of the less glamorous positions in the team, and her efforts and achievements have gone unnoticed by Coach Duncan, who appoints Chloe Macduff to the captain’s role instead.
Cue a significant tantrum from Mac, who gets told to chill out. She does so by listening to the latest update from ‘The Dagger Divas’, three cloaked, hooded figures in pink, who advise Mac that it is her destiny to captain the team, and that she must do whatever she has to, in order to eliminate her competition.
And so Mac plots and schemes, employing every Mean Girls tactic to dispatch first Chloe, and then Mia, who plays for the state team, and then, finally, her best friend Summer Banquo.
In an update to the original, no-one actually dies. But social ostracisation when you’re a teenager is sort of the same thing, right?
As the story continues, the Dagger Divas return, and we learn of the legend of ‘Claire with the Hair’, who was the captain of Team Cawdor in the past. This is a moment of humour in a story that isn’t taking itself too seriously, but is paying respect to the serious and tragic tone of the original.
There’s an impressive amount of dialogue from the original text woven into the story. There are even moments for the characters to talk in soliloquy.
In the most divergent part of the reimagining of the original story, we end here with Mac learning the lesson that she does not have the leadership qualities she thinks she has. And that if she does not learn to work with the other members of the team, they will work together, and exclude her.
It’s an example of a shift of view for one of Shakespeare’s plays. This is an often discussed thought: ‘what happens if all the other characters just talk to each other, and compare notes?’. That’s what’s happened here, in the moments we aren’t shown, and it makes for a satisfying narrative conclusion.
The songs are bouncy and catchy, and the ensemble deliver the vocals with strength and conviction. They drive the story forwards, and provide individual characters with the opportunity to shine.
This show is a whole netball court’s worth of fun. With some incredibly catchy tunes, and an upbeat ending to a story that is usually a tragedy that could have been avoided if someone had just told the lead character to chill out. It is also one of the best versions of Macbeth I have seen.
Lady Macbeth Played Wing Defence continues at 16:15 in Studio One at Assembly George Square Studios, daily until August 25 (not 6, 13 or 20).
Featured Image courtesy of Chloe Nelkin Consulting
