Comedian and screenwriter Stewart Lee is to rewrite a contemporary version of the Porter scene which will feature Alison Peebles in Wils Wilson’s Royal Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth.
Lee said, “I’m delighted to have been asked by Wils Wilson to rewrite the rubbish Porter scene which is in dire need of a post-alternative comedy makeover. Alison Peebles is an inspired piece of casting sure to bring the requisite level of attack. At the moment, the scene is two hours long but hopefully will expand in rehearsal.”
Director Wilson added, “it felt incredibly important that the scene should be dark and funny, satirical and edgy, as it would have been originally. I really think comedy connects us directly—it gets through our defences and cuts through everything to the heart.
“I wanted to recapture the spirit and function of the original scene to give the audience the same kind of experience that they would have had in 1606—to find themselves suddenly laughing, to find themselves personally involved and implicated in a completely different and very direct way with the core ideas of the play: guilt, hypocrisy, greed.
“The Porter is dark, funny, edgy, political, clever, a truth teller. Stewart is all these things. Straightaway I knew I wanted to ask him to write it. He’s a brilliant comic writer, absolutely rigorous in pursuit of the right line or word or rhythm. It’s been such a pleasure to work with him on it.
“Stewart has a really deep understanding of how comedy works. The way he pushes and pulls the relationship with the audience, playing with different levels of reality, is a perfect fit. There’s a very creative level of discomfort about Stewart’s writing which is perfect for this moment.
“Alison Peebles was the first person I asked to be in this production. She’s a wonderful actor—one of Scotland’s finest. She has such a commanding presence and she loves that direct relationship with an audience. She’s full of mischief and there’s also darkness and depth there as well as real humanity.
“I also like the fact she’s an older woman joking about drinking and sex and misbehaving. Even now that’s an unusual thing to see. It gives a different dynamic, a different edge, a new way in.”
Reuben Joseph and Valene Kane make their RSC debuts as the Macbeths. The production will run in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford from Saturday 19 August until Saturday 14 October. Press night will be on Wednesday 30 August.
- Macbeth – William Shakespeare (Royal Shakespeare Company)