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Macbeth at its most dangerous and dramatic

Thursday, 07 March 2024

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  • WAAPA Performs Macbeth

    Macbeth will be performed by WAAPA’s 3rd Year Acting students at the Subiaco Arts Centre.

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WAAPA’s upcoming production of Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth is not for the faint-hearted.

“There’s something so dangerous about it,” says award-winning visiting director Stephen Nicolazzo of the play.
“I love that it is a melodramatic murder mystery exploring shame, guilt, and our deepest carnal desire to destroy.”

Nicolazzo believes that the tension in Macbeth between nature and the uncanny, with its nods to paganism and superstition, allows artists to tackle it with irreverence and endless creative possibility.

The Melbourne-based director will emphasize the sense of danger in WAAPA’s production by lacing the performance with references to slasher cinema of the ’70s and ’80s, and Italian horror films. It will also feature dramatic thunder and lightning effects underscored by a soundtrack of Baroque heavy metal music.

Audiences should expect a high-octane physical performance. This interpretation doesn’t shy away from the blood-soaked original and explores the sexuality bubbling underneath Shakespeare’s famous play.

Macbeth is being performed by WAAPA’s 3rd Year Acting students at the Subiaco Arts Centre from Thursday, 21 to Wednesday, 27 March at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Saturday, 23 March at 2.00pm. Bookings are through the Arts and Culture Trust.

A graduate of NIDA’s directing course, Nicolazzo has a wealth of theatre credits to his name. Previously co-artistic director of Melbourne not-for-profit arts organisation, Western Edge, he was recently appointed artistic director of Brink Productions in Adelaide. He is also the founder and former artistic director of Little Ones Theatre, an independent company focused on innovative queer theatre-making. Nicolazzo is a member of the Associate Artist Advisory Panel at Melbourne Theatre Company.

Nicolazzo describes WAAPA’s graduating Acting students as ‘courageous, unbridled and thoughtful’.

“I have fallen in love with their ability to take on a classic with a contemporary sensibility and find freedom and fun in rehearsals.

“It’s a beautiful thing working with people in training as you see the development of their expression as artists. To play a tiny part in that is an honour for me.”

Don’t miss this bold and fierce interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tale of murder, madness and vaulting ambition.

Content warning: Adult themes, sexual references, depictions of violence. Recommended for ages 16+

For all venue and performance details, please visit the Macbeth performance web page.

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