MacBain Dramaturgy: Dood Paard @ Edfringe 2016

MacBain

Summerhall (Venue 26) ​

Aug 12-14 8.55pm

Macbeth and Kurt Cobain and Lady Macbeth and Courtney Love inspire MacBain a pitch-black comedy by Gerardjan Rijnders about unbridled ambition, hunger for power and an addiction to intoxication and ecstasy which opens in Summerhall’s Old Lab on 5 August. Dood Paard’s triptych of hilarious interviews with the pop stars, a freaky fast-forward puppet version of Macbeth which results in a merciless symbiosis of the grunge couple Cobain-Love and the Thanes of Cawdor. A crazy journey into the world of two seriously troubled people who are trying to escape from their mental prison, as the loneliness howls through the room and the attempts to reverse the inevitable end are heart-breaking.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

The author, Gerardjan Rijnders wrote the play for two Portugese actors. A pitch-black comedy about unbridled ambition, hunger for power and an addition to intoxication and ecstasy, inspired by Macbeth & Kurt Cobain and Lady Macbeth & Courtney Love. He was so happy with the idea and the text that he asked us to read it. We were blown away and immediately  decided to stage the play. The combination of the superstars and the play Macbeth was very inspiring.

How did you go about gathering the team for it

We asked composer Wessel Schrik to make soundscape. He used to be a big fan of Cobain and Love and he made versions of songs of Nirvana with instruments from the time of Shakespeare. He also made a soundscape that represents the walking advancing wood with trembling cutlery and copper plates. Julian Maiwald made a freaky lightshow.

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance? 

We work as a collective, which means that we do the directing, the dramaturgy and the set design together.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

The audience will be a witness of two seriously troubled people who are trying to escape from their mental prison in brief and concise sentences. The loneliness howls through the room and the attempts to reverse the inevitable end, are heartbreaking.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

During the rehearsals we add two scenes to Macbain and made a triptych with a hilarious interview with the pop stars, a freaky fast-forward puppet version of Macbeth with children's toys that would give some context to the last part, the merciless symbiosis of the grunge couple Cobain-Love and the royal couple. 

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?

We love to work with Shakespeare and we have done quite a lot of his plays, Titus Andronicus, Othello, Julius Ceasar, Coriolanus,.. We also staged the Jew of Malta of coeval Marlowe. Besides we also work with newer  plays  and develop new texts in collaboration with playwrites..