37 replies to this topic

[Latecomer]

I hail from Manchester...so this must be destiny. Or perhaps just a theatre trip....

[xanderl]

Pharaoh, on 14 November 2012 - 11:09 PM, said:

We could take over the local Travelodge

Yes, even if we can't get tickets - we can kidnap Sir Ken and force him to do an immersive performance of Macbeth in the bar of the Travelodge.

[Honoured Guest]

Honoured Guest, on 10 November 2012 - 02:39 PM, said:

I'm intrigued by the Kenneth Branagh rumour. As part of MIF, which commisions major new work often mixing disciplines, I speculate whether this Macbeth might be a site specific show along the lines of Michael Sheen's The Passion in Port Talbot two years ago.

I see Lynette, Latecomer and Pharaoh's number 2 - the three weird sisters - in residence at a Manchester Travelodge throughout MIF13.

[Latecomer]

When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?     Translation : Manchester
When the hurlyburly ’s done,
When the battle ’s lost and won.    Translatiom : When we have captured tickets

[Epicoene]

Emma Thompson to play Lady M ?

[zyx123]

Looks like they are doing a member scheme for priority booking. £50 a bit pricey.

[Honoured Guest]

Epicoene, on 15 November 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

Emma Thompson to play Lady M ?

Pure speculation again, but we don't know that this will involve any other live actors.

Also, I predict at least one television documentary on this project, from genesis through planning and rehearsal to performance, and also a film version of the production.

This is the most exciting theatre news for a long while.

[Alexandra]

"This is the most exciting theatre news for a long while"

Really? Because it's got a big star in it? That seems to be all that matters to some people on this board. Hence the moans about the Donmar not being what it was.

[Honoured Guest]

My excitement is due to the specific nature of this event, staged intimately in a deconsecrated church and co-directed by Kenneth Branagh so clearly a personal project and absolutely not just an actor for hire ticking off a role. Manchester International Festival hit the ground running from its first year, commissioning and producing major new work by established artists which just doesn't happen anywhere else. Your notional Donmar production could well be very fine but it wouldn't raise anticipation in the same way because, like King Lear at the Almeida, it would be just one more production of the same old play in a theatre. To be fair, Hamlet at the Young Vic did go beyond that - largely because it was again a personal project of its lead actor, Michael Sheen, who significantly had recently initiated, co-directed and played the lead in The Passion in Port Talbot which was the first choice production for 2011 of many national theatre critics. My hunch, based on the news that MIF has taken up Kenneth Branagh's project, is that this will be something really special - creating something which achieves much more than is possible in a conventional theatre space.

[Alexandra]

Branagh co-directing himself sounds like his ego is back, anyway. Unless of course he's offered a film to direct in the meantime.