GOBLIN: MACBETH AT THE CENTAUR THEATRE
On 15 March of this year, I attended a performance of "Goblin: Macbeth" at the Centaur Theatre in Old Montreal. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to post a review until now. Ah, well – better late than never ...
For those of you who haven't heard of this play, the premise is as follows: three goblins (Wug, Kragva, and Moog) have come across a copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, and have taken over a theatre in order to stage one of the plays – not surprisingly, they've chosen "Macbeth", one of the Bard of Avon's bloodiest (they are goblins, after all).
What ensues over the next 90 minutes is gloriously chaotic, with the three goblins playing multiple roles (often in the same scene), impromptu interactions with the audience and "theatre staff" (at one point, the "manager" barges in and tells the goblins that they have to leave, whereupon they take him and his two "assistants" hostage and pretend to kill him offstage – although Wug is then berated by his wife, Kragva, for actually having murdered him lol)
Moog, the teenage son, provides the music for the play, although in one scene he decides to play a bal-musette, the stereotypical "Parisian café" music. When Wug objects, Moog pointedly asks him if he's got something against the French, to the delight of the audience (this is Montreal, remember!) – Kragva, playing Macbeth's hired assassin, then decides to do her lines in a French accent.
During the climactic battle scene, audience participation reaches its peak, with Kragva conscripting everyone into the King of Scotland's army.
In short, this was a wonderful romp – and a surprisingly faithful (if abridged) adaptation of the Scottish Play. If you get a chance to see it, then do yourself a favour and go see it – you won't be disappointed.
