These neat little monologues are a sort of fan fiction inspired by various works of Shakespeare (The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night) and playing in repertory across the Fringe.
These are classy vignettes which deliver humour, pathos, and a wealth of the linguistic winks
In Third Witch from the Left, astrologer and cookery writer Meg seeks some form of peace from the echoes of the bloodshed unleashed when the weird sisters she was apprentice to piqued Macbeth’s vaulting ambition on that blasted heath all those years ago. Its companion piece – The Whirligig of Time – is an insight into Malvolio’s determination to be ‘revenged on the whole pack’ who have made his life a misery. This is perhaps the more successful piece of writing, showing greater adherence to the original source material and using a more accurate historical structure as a scaffold. Because it focuses on a more recognisable character with a more tangible emotional arc, there is greater scope to mine the Shakespearean references without textual over-reach: but that said, the joy of this programme is its ability to cast new shadows across old stories for a range of tastes.
Actors Jules Hobbs and Richard Curnow weave a confident spell, drawing the sell-out audience into their little lives with a skilful luxuriation in the narrative. These are classy vignettes which deliver humour, pathos and a wealth of the linguistic winks we are all there for and – coupled with the delights of the Georgian House – ensure that we all leave feeling with a fresh spring in our intellectual step.
