Stratford, Ont., is a pretty peaceful, tranquil town.
But this month, director Robert Lepage鈥檚 biker gang version of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淢acbeth鈥 will be revving its engines at the Stratford Festival鈥檚 Avon Theatre.
鈥淭o be clear, we鈥檙e riding electric bikes that are souped up as motorcycles and we鈥檒l be on a small section of the stage,鈥 said actor Graham Abbey, who plays Banquo, on a recent Zoom call. 鈥淏ut they look great and sound like the real thing.鈥
鈥淧lus,鈥 added Tom McCamus, who鈥檚 taking on the title character, 鈥渨e鈥檙e wearing leather jackets, rings, chains and sporting tattoos. There鈥檚 nothing like leather chaps to help you get into character.鈥
Seven years ago, Lepage鈥檚 production of the Bard鈥檚 鈥淐oriolanus鈥 wowed Stratford audiences with its filmic techniques and dazzling storytelling.
Several actors from that production 鈥 including Abbey, McCamus, Lucy Peacock, Tom Rooney and Andr茅 Sills 鈥 are back for this world premiere production. They savoured the chance to work again with the director of such classics as 鈥淭he Seven Streams of the River Ota鈥 and 鈥淭he Far Side of the Moon.鈥
Most of the cast took part in a pair of workshops, one at Lepage鈥檚 Ex Machina theatre in Quebec City back in 2019 and then at Stratford last winter.
Lucy Peacock as Lady Macbeth and Tom McCamus as Macbeth in “Macbeth.”聽
David Hou/Stratford Festival鈥淓ven in that first workshop, there were clothes racks and a prototype of the set to help us get into character,鈥 said Peacock, who鈥檚 playing Lady Macbeth in this staging, which mostly takes place in and around a Quebec motel that acts as the gang鈥檚 bunker.
鈥淭he big picture is really important to Robert and, over time, he gets more and more specific,鈥 said Peacock. 鈥淎 costume will change, or a wig. For people who haven鈥檛 worked with him before, it might seem unusual. But I tell them, 鈥楰eep the faith. It鈥檒l get there.鈥 In 鈥楥oriolanus,鈥 I remember it felt like I was in both a play and an art installation. He鈥檚 just brilliant.鈥
Actor Rooney, who plays Macduff, remembers Lepage directing him in Saskatoon in a spare but powerful bilingual staging of 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥 way back in 1989.
Robert Lepage is directing the Stratford Festival’s latest revival of “Macbeth.”
Giovanni Capriotti for the 海角社区官网Star鈥淓ven before he was a big international theatre star, he came up with ideas that were so simple yet powerful. There鈥檚 more money behind his productions now, but he鈥檚 still able to tell stories in this poetic and ingenious way. It鈥檚 always fun to see what he鈥檚 going to come up with.鈥
For Rooney, Lepage鈥檚 idea of setting 鈥淢acbeth鈥 during the brutal Quebec biker wars of the 1990s and early 2000s 鈥 during which there were more than 84 bombings and 130 cases of arson, resulting in 162 deaths 鈥 makes sense.
鈥淚t really does feel like biker gangs are clans,鈥 said Rooney. 鈥淎 clan requires loyalty and honour, a brotherhood or sisterhood. The internal politics in 鈥楳acbeth鈥 are very much alive within a gang. And more so than any other production I’ve been in or watched, I clearly see the archetypes in this version.鈥
Abbey, who starred opposite Peacock in a 2004 staging of the play in Stratford, agrees.
鈥淪cottish thanes, for instance, looked after different geographical locations,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd you’ve got these different orders of bikers that run areas of the biking world. The Macbeths upset that hierarchy and chaos ensues.鈥
Lepage鈥檚 stage tricks and the production鈥檚 mise en sc猫ne will likely elicit midshow applause; everyone says the introduction of the witches is going to wow audiences. But none of that should detract from the performances or storytelling.
鈥淓verything that Robert creates comes out of 鈥楳acbeth,鈥欌 said McCamus, who鈥檚 never played the role before.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 great is that given the setting and situation, all the text and the dialogue is really clear. You don’t have to bend Shakespeare to make this concept work. The concept comes out of the play. It illuminates it.鈥
Rooney says Lepage鈥檚 production is so complete and suggestive that it actually makes his job as an actor easier.
Tom Rooney as Macduff and Andr茅 Sills as Ross in “Macbeth.”聽
David Hou/Stratford Festival鈥淎t Stratford, we鈥檙e used to doing Shakespeare on more open stages, with less set around us,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 remember those scenes in 鈥楥oriolanus鈥 set at a bar. It really felt like we were sitting at a bar and so all we had to do was talk to each other. We didn鈥檛 have to conjure up this world because we were in the world.鈥
While Sills played the title character in 鈥淐oriolanus,鈥 he鈥檚 playing the smaller role of Ross in this production (both he and Abbey take on more prominent parts in 鈥淭he Winter鈥檚 Tale鈥).
But he鈥檚 also acting as assistant director to Lepage, which has opened his eyes to working on a bigger canvas. Sills directed last season鈥檚 鈥淕et That Hope鈥 at the intimate Studio Theatre.
鈥淭he things I鈥檝e directed thus far have been smaller-scaled,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been great to dream big. But with Robert, everything comes down to story and character. Even with these big set pieces, the focal point of the play is what鈥檚 happening between the people onstage. Eye candy is great, but ultimately we鈥檙e there for the drama.鈥
He thinks back to when he first got cast as Coriolanus.
鈥淚 was so nervous about working with this man, this legend,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut I soon saw this gentle human being, someone who was so open to playing around. He is very much an actor鈥檚 director. He鈥檚 a capital D Director but, as an actor himself, he understands the route into a play. He wants to open it up for us all to really fly.鈥
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