Macbeth Projeto

Macbeth Projeto is a performing arts project that used elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth as a framework for exploring different types of performativity. The central research question was ‘how migration of dramatic text , migratory geography deconstruction of stasis and transformation of form create different aesthetic qualities and performative experiences’? The project resulted in a series of novel rehearsal methodologies for adapting a dramatic text into a multisensorial performance via open rehearsal, creative workshops, and mixed visual and performing creative techniques. The project grew out of the researcher’s previous work with Brazilian theatre – including two co-authored books; Brazilian Collaborative Theatre ( 2017) and Brazilian Performing Arts (2019).Shakespeare’s original text was used as a framework for devising novel methodologies that combined different performance digital media methods with Brazilian collaborative contemporary theatre techniques. Rehearsals began with free collaborative improvisation workshops, out of which emerged material that was selected for further development. From this process the focus fell on the Act 3 scene 4, ‘feast’ scene. From this starting point, ‘The Party’, the relationship with Lady Macbeth, witches and ghosts became the key resources around which new narratives were developed. The research resulted in six performance cycles, each of which explored a different theatre form: Physical and group theatre; Site-specific, Solo-performance, Installation art, Augmented Reality, and Video/Performance Art (created as a remote on-line devised performance). Collaborators and co-producers with CIPA on the research project were Centrala, Digbrew (Birmingham), International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR), VUK Theatre (Belgrade), Prague Quadrennial, AHRC, Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Teatro Os Satyros (Sao Paulo). It has been performed at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (UK), IFTR, Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design 2019 and as part of an AHRC UK-China Creative Industries Partnership Development Programme with Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai.