MAC-BETH 7

Crossover Festival, Noordezan Theatre 2004 | Project Arts Centre 2004

Mac-Beth 7 is surely the most exciting indigenous production of the Irish theatre year thus far.

WOW

Nominated for Best Lighting, Irish Times Theatre Awards 2004

by Shakespeare

Macbeth is a play about self-love and self-loathing.

Why go and see a production of Macbeth in 2004? Is it to hold mirrors up to nature and show ourselves what we might possibly be? Our triumphs and disasters. Is it to set people wondering to cleanse the mind and soul? Is it to divert and thrill us with excitement or suspense, make us laugh; procure us with a vague sense of uplift or to change what we were taught to respect.

Is it to give us tears and indignation, to mingle humour and tragedy? Make us question, challenge ourselves? To induce a cathartic effect? Is this ‘Katharsis’ the function of the performance? Human nature in it’s numerous guises. It’s fragile charm and brilliant artificiality.

This is the reality of the live performance, the reality of the stage over study of theatre, over this play as literature. The performance, Mac-Beth 7 is, I hope, in the spirit of MAN IS FREE; our uniqueness cannot be ironed out by psychology, philosophies, educationalists or politicians. People can influence or shape your life but not wholly.

What the audience feel can be dictated but not imposed. The reaction of the audience to the performance contributes to life. We present this piece of theatre as a factory of thought, AN ARMOURY AGAINST DESPAIR AND DULLNESS. A prompter of conscience. We feel most people think that the dramatic arts at the moment are creatively out of touch; we are hoping to reverse or at least influence that perception. At this point after Pan Pan’s ten years in existence I believe there is a great source of accumulated knowledge which we are trying to bring to the attention of the audience for their stimulation. And we hope to invoke a sincerely individual response, which is very important for theatre. Art equips you to deal with life.

“The words remain Shakespeare’s, with sensitive cutting that preserves the depth of thought and knowledge enshrined by them. What Pan Pan brings to the feast is a new architecture, a novel arrangement of the bricks in a structure that beguiles the eye and intrigues the intellect…… This is, of course the passion and creativity that inspire Pan Pan to be different as well as entertaining, and we should be grateful for that.”

The Irish Times

“This is a serious and exciting production….Quinn’s direction is extraordinarily skilful in the intense calm he imposes on the cast…..Andrew Clancy’s design, lit superbly by Aedín Cosgrove, is a triumph, as are Suzanne Cave’s costumes.”

The Sunday Independent

“The production values are high, and the integration of video into live action is sophisticated; the final battle scene, in which Mac-beth is captured in freeze frame on the screens, is hauntingly beautiful….. this is entertaining and represents a high point for the ensemble.”

The Guardian

“Mac-Beth 7 is surely the most exciting indigenous production of the Irish theatre year thus far. With so much to watch, so much to comprehend, and so much to interpret for oneself, Pan Pan have created a sophisticated yet playful experience that shows their ethos at its best.”

WOW

Directed by Gavin Quinn

Assistant Director Lian Bell

Lighting design by Aedín Cosgrove

Set design by Andrew Clancy

Music by Andrew Synnott

Costume design by Suzanne Cave

Produced by Aoife White

Sound Operator & Tour Manager Lian Bell

Cast: Drew Barnes, Andrew Bennett, Ned Dennehy, Eugene McGinty, Emma McIvor, Katherine O’Malley, Nicola Sharkey and Dylan Tighe