Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Dunsinane

" Brilliant…this is essential viewing. On one level, Dunsinane is a revisionist, rock band-scored sequel to William Shakespeare's Anglo-centric Macbeth, except that Lady Macbeth gets to stay alive and make further trouble after her husband's death. But you don't need to have ever heard of Macbeth to get this show. For, on another level, Dunsinane really is an elaborate metaphor for the fiendishly complicated relationship between England and Scotland…All of this richness and complexity is acted as such. "

"Highly Recommended. Searingly directed by Roxana Silbert… As for Greig, he is a marvelous, eloquent writer who can make sparks fly in erotically charged scenes as well as political and battlefield encounters. And his extraordinary flair for conflating human behavior from one century to another is nothing short of witchcraft."

"Director Roxana Silbert conjures a world for Dunsinane that is stone and mud and peat and crag and driven inexorably towards tragedy. A swelling Gaelic post-rock score, played live, and a late, enveloping snowfall effect are all wonderful theatrical touches so common for the National Theatre of Scotland but so rare everywhere else. This may be a history play, but is a history still living, still dangerous, and still not close to being done. "

"The touring production presents the aftermath of the Scottish Play as a series of political machinations that equally evokes Game of Thrones and House of Cards, but ultimately reads as an allegory to the Western incursion into the Middle East over the last 15 years…Greig and director Roxana Silbert guide us skillfully through the unfamiliar ancient history. Siobhan Redmond’s Lady Macbeth, a.k.a. Gruach…is so chameleonic as to fuel the whole endeavor."

"Dunsinane is the Shakespeare sequel we never knew we needed. Galvanized by Roxana Silbert’s rampaging staging and a pulsating live score by Nick Powell, Dunsinane remains a strong show with an attractive young cast. Especially valuable is its Henry V-style portrayal of ordinary archers and axmen coping with sudden death, extorting victims, and combating homesickness. "

"Imaginative and ferociously topical…you recognize the saga in terms of our knotty 21st-century conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The scale is classical, with acting to match, especially in the majestic, subtle central performances by Redmond, D’Silva and Donald. You hardly need to brush up on your Shakespeare to see that the peacekeeping and nation-building of “Dunsinane” has no end of resonance here and now."

"A theatrical marvel…It’s original and raw, imaginatively staged, powerfully enacted by an ensemble cast, and, freakishly in some ways, as sharp and horrific as the morning headlines. The playwright means for us to think about our times—this is a play about conquest and invasion, strangers in a very strange land, the inability in a hit and run war of atrocities on both sides in which neither side understands the other. "

"This story is as beautiful as it is thought-provoking, and is guaranteed to turn your imperial world upside down. Meet Gruach, aka. Lady Macbeth, played with dazzling power by Siobhan Redmond. Siward, played with an earthy swagger by Darrell D’Silva, meets Gruach as he and his motley crew of soldiers enter the castle Siward and Gruach’s scenes together are a master class in incredible acting, a seemingly effortless give and take that sweeps through the auditorium, leaving each viewer in utter belief. Roxana Silbert directs the excellent cast and production team to shimmering effect, as we are offered a fascinating mix of comic situations, rooted in a foreigner’s misunderstanding of the Other’s world, and gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking results."

" …an irresolvable drama about an irresolvable conflict—a work of compelling intelligence, provocation and wit."

" Instead of being an intriguing exercise in reimagining history, the play becomes the frankly thrilling spectacle of one of the country's leading writers using its biggest stage as the great public forum of debate…If it's riveting spectacle, challenging ideas and human drama you want, this is the show to see."

"A powerful, relevant and fascinating production."

" [Writer David] Greig combines a clever, richly enjoyable bourgeois update of history with a strand of dark, beautiful poetry that disturbs the soul; and also a use of the Gaelic language that hints at a whole surviving Scottish culture just beneath the surface of the play, and beyond the grasp of the invaders…"

Edinburgh Evening News
" There's a breathtaking intensity to the dialogue that accompanies Gruach's seductive hold over Siward, whose own growing vulnerability mirrors that of the young inexperienced soldiers who are beginning to question their purpose in this unforgiving land.

David Greig's writing is both funny and poignant throughout…Beautifully paced, engrossing drama."

" A slow-burning and profound meditation on life in a land occupied and overseen by some misguided force that can only end in a stubbornly personal war of attrition…
Dunsinane is a play rich in ideas and metaphor that lays bare the loyalties, betrayals and complexities of politics enough to aspire to state of the nation status. Whose nation, however, is anybody's guess."