Fringe review: LADY MACBETH PLAYED WING DEFENCE, Assembly George Square
Photo credit: K Darius Photography
Now here's an idea for a musical to catch your attention. A group of young women fly halfway around the world from Australia to put on a show about the rivalries between them to be captain of their local netball team and then base the characters and some of the words on William Shakespeare's Macbeth. No wonder it has attracted a good audience with that eye catching promotional potential.
It helps if you understand and have played netball so the positions on their vests mean something to you (GK, GA , C, etc) and you can catch a glimpse of their names on their backs to make the connection to the famous play. You will also appreciate the idea more if you know Shakespeare's lines so you can enjoy the way they are interweaved into the story. It helps too if you can attune to the Australian accents as the fast pace means some lines are hard to catch, although for the songs they do provide subtitles .
Mac Beth aspires to be team Captain but Coach Duncan keeps overlooking her for someone with better leadership qualities. Inspired by watching the Dagger Divas online, a singing trio, she seeks to eliminate her rivals. This, at least, provides the best song incorporating the line "in thunder, lightening and in rain, when shall we three girls meet again"!
Firstly, she must eliminate MacDuff (though as the only player to actually try and net the ball, when she misses, you wonder why she is first choice!), the Porter and Banquo who need to be removed from the team. It provides plenty of opportunity for bitchiness and deceit amongst the rivals of the Hell Hound team.
As Doc Brown sings in Back to the Future the Musical: "it works ", although none of the songs match up to that standard at this stage. This a good, clever idea with a strong appeal to the Heathers, Six , Bad Girls and Clueless musical theatre fans and has the potential to develop with a rival team based around the travelling players of the original perhaps.
It’s fun and well performed, and we look forward to seeing how it develops .
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne