Oddsocks Productions 45-minute comedy Macbeth
Who knew you could depict a beheading with a boiled egg?
As a touring theatre company, how do you perform Shakespeare to the masses in lockdown?
Stream a comedy version of Macbeth live from around your home, using whatever household objects and cameras you can find.
When Oddsocks Productions announced they hadn't qualified for an emergency grant from Arts Council England, fans couldn't believe it. Luckily, they've banded together with The Streaming Theatre to bring us Stay Home Shakespeare.
In 45 minutes, Andy, Ellie and their daughter Charlie make Macbeth (yes, the gloomy one with all the murder and witches) hilarious. From making fun of Early Modern English ("The king's an actual bed?") to props including a motorcycle helmet, a slipper and a trumpet, The Scottish Play actually becomes bearable. Who knew you could depict a beheading with a boiled egg?
Some of the funniest moments are courtesy of The Bard. We see a careless trifle, hear horrified noises from Charlie on hearing her mum say "I have given suck", and a thick knight is mentioned...
A topical tune is sung during the famous hand-washing scene and a bloodcurdling scream interrupts Macbeth just as he's vlogging his sourdough recipe to 'Solilocam'. Digital magic by editor Kee Ramsorrun adds glitches to the witches, headlines like "MACBETH COMMITS TO REBUILDING HADRIAN'S WALL", and text convos layered over live film.
It's fun, it's silly and it feels as spontaneous as a viral video, with the advantage of over 30 years of theatre experience.
If you've been lucky enough to avoid Macbeth until now, this is a fantastic introduction to a story of murder, guilt and madness. Andy from Oddsocks told me more.
Why did you choose to stream and edit Macbeth live?
Streaming the performance and editing it as we go keeps a sense of the 'live' element. The most vivid thing about theatre is its 'liveness' in front of people - the sense that anything could happen, and what is happening is happening now.
By doing it live, we hoped to keep that element going, because so much of the theatre element is missing. It was a way of creating theatre in the normal domestic setting. We knew that a recorded video, no matter how well edited, could not compete with film.
How hard was it to adapt from in-person theatre?
At first, it was a little strange to adapt from real theatre. The first two weeks were all about technically making it work, so camera angles, timing, location and sound. I was forever being told, 'Indoor voice, Andy!'
Now we've done it successfully once, we want to keep getting better and keep trying to surprise people.
How do you pick which Shakespeare lines to use?
We choose the lines that tell the story. When we have a limited amount of time to do the story, it's all about the narrative line. We try to keep a sense of each character and the verse, but the main driver is storyline.
What's next for Oddsocks during lockdown?
We're working on our Stay Home Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream, which airs Friday 19 June, rehearsing each afternoon between 3-5pm with Kee and Kev.
Kee's daughter's bedtime is between 5 and 7pm, and Kev is in LA, which is 8 hours behind. It's 7-9am for him, so that's the best time for us to get together.
In the meantime, we're keeping fit doing workouts and weights, and we're staying up-to-date with bookkeeping, PR and general office admin.
We are planning to do another Stay Home Shakespeare in July, but we are not sure which one.
