The Traitors is pure Shakespeare – the producers have learnt from the best

There are no spoilers in this article about The Traitors. 

Take pity on any stage production that tried to hold a press night on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday across the last few weeks. While critics were dragged out to an array of shows (some less inspiring than others), the real drama they were pining for was on the TV screens.

Twenty-two unwitting strangers were shipped off to a remote Scottish castle (and the Travelodge next to the nearest airport) in order to take part in The Traitors, a big-budget version of the classic game werewolf, also called mafia (the one where a group of revellers sit around, close their eyes and wait to be “murdered” by members of the group who are secretly the baddies, only for the “goodies” to try and identify those baddies once the eyes are reopened).

Why do I even need to explain this – according to the viewing figures, it seems that scarily chunky swathes of the population have all been watching the show. You all know how it works.

But what is obvious is that the producers of the show – who reportedly spent years perfecting its more elaborate premise – understand theatrical form and structure.

Speaking earlier this week to Shakespeare’s Globe’s artistic director Michelle Terry, she confessed to being an absolute Traitors addict. She rattled off all manner of  easy comparisons with the Bard – backstabbing, unexpected familial ties, deception, betrayal, greed, the perils of groupthink, the ostracisation of the unfamiliar.

It goes even further than this. Right from the off, iconic presenter and champion of the fringe Claudia Winkleman orbits the action like some Greek chorus – the Fool to the Faithfuls’ bickering Lears, the omniprescent Witches to the murderous Macbeths – ocasionally mischievously Puckish.

Macbeth seeing Banquo's ghost.#TheTraitors pic.twitter.com/YsF7n3skmn

— Sacha Coward (@sacha_coward) January 17, 2024

Every time a “faithful” or a “traitor” goes and does a confessional interview to camera, it’s essentially a soliloquy – foreshadowing a fall following the pride, or unveiling some clandestine secret suspicion. Instead of “to be or not to be”, you have “to banish or not to banish”.

Just like Julius Caesar, hasty murders can result in even more turbulence – strong figures disappearing from the group and leaving chaos in (or at) their wake. Other times, the Faithful unwittingly murder those they suspect of being treacherous despite their total innocence, jostled along by the malevolent – which may sound familiar to anyone who has studied Othello or Much Ado About Nothing.

Then, of course, there’s the money – hanging over every Faithful and Traitor’s head is the chance to score tens of thousands of pounds. Faith and trust are quite literally worth their weight in gold. Misplaced allegiances can cost – as they did for Richard III when deserted by Lord Stanley at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Of course – all of this highlights how perfectly The Traitors captures the intricacies and shocking realities of the human condition – just as Shakespeare did too. I suggested Terry stage a live version at the Globe (the venue’s publicist recommended the more intimate confines of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) – it could be the perfect fit.

@whatsonstage

Same tbh. Who would you dream-cast in a Traitors musical? #TheTraitors #Traitors #TheatreTok

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