MancBeth: A Modern Take on Shakespeare

Author of ‘British Film Studios.’ Kiri Bloom Walden, a film history author and part-time Film tutor at Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education gives her opinion of the Mancbeth project: To put things simply, this is a really exciting project and I can’t wait to see the script come to life as a film. Lemberg transfers Shakespeare’s action from medieval Scotland to contemporary Manchester and the play works perfectly in this new setting. With the action taking place on the streets, in the pubs and clubs, we feel echoes of Trainspotting’s colourful and poetic urban violence. Lemberg skillfully interprets the original characters and introduces novel views of the action, from CCTV screens to a rat’s point of view. Just as Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet re-imagined Shakespeare for a younger generation (without changing the original dialogue), Lemberg’s treatment of Macbeth has the potential to reach a new, wider audience, and may also force those familiar with Shakespeare to look at the play in an entirely new way.