“MACBETH just hurtles along and yet it has such a clear story and characters, so we make the audience complicit in that rather than mere bystanders,” Paul O’Mahony explains.
Only Out of Chaos would bring such a mammoth Shakespeare play to the stage with a pair of actors and a bare set. Yet, if anyone can pull it off they can, the award-winning theatre company renowned for their exciting and challenging storytelling which places the audience firmly at the heart of everything they do.
And with Paul and his partner Hannah Barrie ready to take on all 20 characters between them, the Oxford Playhouse stage is set for an epic production, running from Tuesday April 29- Thursday May 1.
So where did they begin with Shakespeare’s most macabre tragedy? “Macbeth has so much brutality, terrible murder and betrayal leading into madness, sleeplessness and mania, that it matches the slight madness we are taking on, because it is so fast paced you have to really be in the moment ” Paul smiles. “And that allows the brutality to happen, so it’s a fantastic challenge to convey that through two actors playing all the roles.”
‘It’s like being on a train. You can’t stop once you get on. You don’t have time to think so Working together like this means we rely on total trust’
Hannah agrees: “It’s like being on a train. You can’t stop once you get on, but that in itself is brilliant. You don’t have time to think. Working together like this means we rely on total trust and both feel totally supported which allows you to take lots of risks and really push yourself, so we have surprised ourselves by finding something new and have loved the whole experience.
“You have to invest in the truth and surround yourself in the play, to think like the characters and keep moving forward, because it never stops, and the story needs to be clear as a bell” she adds.
‘It’s like an aerobic workout but that’s the beauty of the writing, the words say everything and have intent. They instantly transport you to Macbeth’s world’
Entirely au fait with the concept, Paul having started Out Of Chaos with Oxford Playhouse‘s artistic director Mike Tweddle 17 years ago, multi-roles being one of the renowned theatre company’s trademarks: “Playing so many characters encourages you to be bold and make more interesting choices, to really explore them so that it feels really alive.
“This is a really vibrant and fresh way to bring Macbeth to the stage, with really clear story telling, because the format has forced us to be really inventive with it and see things in different ways,” Paul adds.
“So the lighting and team around us create the different world we need to tell this story, because we always make shows that people feel part of, rather than passive observers, meaning that the audience will be in Macbeth’s court with us, investing in the story.”
‘we always make shows that people feel part of, rather than passive observers, meaning that the audience will be in Macbeth’s court with us’
Cut to a snappy 80 minutes without an interval, Hannah adds: “It’s like an aerobic workout, but that’s the beauty of the writing, the words say everything and have intent. They instantly transport you to Macbeth’s world, straight into the mood and that’s why Shakespeare is so wonderful, because if you have the conviction, the text takes you there.”
And with Out Of Chaos’ Macbeth making it’s debut at Oxford Playhouse, the duo can’t wait to see how the audiences react: “We feel very proud of this production, performed in a way you have never seen before. So while it’s immersive and essentialised we have still got to the heart of it, and discovered along the way what really resonates.”
“You can never escape from Macbeth and the audience will be able to feel the heat of it, which makes for a really exciting night.”
Macbeth is at Oxford Playhouse from Tuesday April 29 – Thursday May 1. Book here: https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/macbeth
